Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Norman! Ray! Come on, check this out!”

The ginger girl nearly pressed her face against the glass of a display case, a giddy grin on her face. Emma couldn’t contain her excitement, or so it seemed, at this expansive school festival. The black haired boy, or Ray, sighed before pulling her away by the collar.

“You’ll end up smudging your germs all over the glass, and then nobody will be able to see anything.” Ray scolded, only causing the girl to huff.

“C’mon, I promise I won’t mess anything up! I just wanna look at all this cool, uh, what’s it called? Casino stuff?” Emma asked, glancing back at the two other boys.

“Yes, all of this stuff is for gambling… at least, this section is.” The white-haired boy near the two, Norman, nodded, calmly looking around. They were already lucky enough to sneak into Hyakkaou Private Academy, let alone into an inside school festival. Of course, he would never imagine how risqué or mature a private academy would be. Norman would’ve been worried about sticking out like a sore thumb if it weren’t for the fact that various people were also there, arguably sticking out more than they did. After all, some weren’t even human.

Right now, the trio were only looking at all the different items and experiences that were offered; they had no real money to their names, anyway, so it’s not like they could buy anything anyway. Of course, that didn’t stop the optimistic and energetic Emma from trying to get her hands on a few souvenirs and snacks.

“They’re for the younger ones!” She’d excuse, “The little kids gotta have some stuff, too!”

Emma was right in one respect; the littler kids didn’t have much. Most of their favorite things were back at that dreaded Grace Field Home. But they couldn’t go back. Not now, not ever. They've survived a month already, they can last much longer.

Still, Norman couldn’t help but feel bad for them. If he could at least get them maybe a small trinket or a toy or, heck, even a blanket, he knew that they would smile for the rest of the week. All this misery for them to survive… You couldn’t help but pity them.

Right now, the crowd of smaller children weren’t with the trio. It would be too obvious that they had snuck in if they had a bunch of near toddlers wandering around such a mature gambling section. They had even offered to play games with a few people around. Naturally, gambling involves betting money and resources the children simply didn’t have.

“They’re giving us weird looks, Emma,” Ray stated in a quiet tone, “Little kids aren’t supposed to be here.”

“There might be a food stand nearby though!!” Emma said, an eager look on her face, “I know we can’t pay for anything, but I’m sure we can stea-”
“Don’t say it so loud, Emma!” Ray scolded, his tone becoming a lot more hushed.

“Remember, Emma, this is a stealth mission in a sense,” Norman replied, “If people find out that we’re here to do something wrong, they’ll try to stop us, and then we won’t get anything for anyone.”

“Right, right, I know that ! But nobody is going to pay attention to a trio of kids!” Emma argued lightheartedly. You’d be surprised… Norman thought, admittedly admiring Emma’s half-glass-full attitude. How she could act so care-free and happy despite how much they’d been through was beyond him, and a small part of the boy found himself envying such a trait.

Eventually, the three reached a bit of a crossroad; three separate paths, all catering to this gambling-section of the festival. Emma looked down each path, a slightly confused look on her face. Norman could recognize such a look anywhere; it meant that she didn’t know what to do next.

Ray seemed to have realized it too, “Well, there’s three of us, isn’t there? That’s enough for one person to look down each path. We’ll come back to this crossing in ten minutes and see if any of us have found this alleged food stand, okay?”

“That seems to be a good idea to me.” Norman agreed, nodding softly before looking at Emma a bit expectantly. He knew that there wasn’t meant to be a “leader” in this group, and yet he always felt like Emma called most of the shots.

“Hmm… Okay then! That sounds like the smartest thing to do!” Emma finally said, putting a confident fist into the palm of her hand, “I’ll go to the left, Ray can go up ahead, and you can head down the right, Norman!”

“Remember, you two, be back here in ten minutes,” Ray reminded once more, “And if you do find the food stand, don’t screw things up.”

“Have a bit more faith in us, Ray.” Norman glanced down his hallway as he spoke. His corridor seemed to be a bit more barren… if the food stand was there, they wouldn’t be as stealthy as before. Well, it was one out of three, right? There’s a chance that it wasn’t down there, and he would have to find out.

“Whatever. I’m more worried about Emma than you anyway, Norman.” Shaking his head a bit, Ray began to walk down the middle hallway, leaving the other two in the dust.

“Ray needs to learn to lighten up a bit. I know that this is a serious mission, but this is also a school festival! You can at least have a little fun!” Emma seemed to have found herself giggling a little, placing her hands on her hips.

Norman couldn’t help himself but to mimic that huge smile of hers, albeit his was a bit smaller than hers, “I guess you are right, Emma. I wish you luck on your search.”

“You too, Norman!” With a grin, the ginger began to sprint off down the left hallway. Of course, she had the courtesy to look back and wave goodbye, which the white-haired boy appreciated. As he waved back, only now did he realize that he was alone and had his own mission to complete.

Carefully, Norman began his trek down the right hallway. The empty nature of stands and people made him stick out quite a bit more. It would’ve made anyone who loved the company of other people uncomfortable in a sense, as the further you went down, the less people there were. Unfortunately, this meant that the extroverted Norman had started to regret the plan the three had. He knew he couldn’t give up now, though.

Looking around, he realized how large the gambling section of the festival seemed to be. It was almost like this rich academy was all about gambling, but that couldn’t truly be the case, right? It was a slightly suffocating atmosphere of risk, richness, and red accents. Dice rolling across gambling tables, cards being flipped, minor celebrations, major losses… Even in this desolate place, almost every little sound echoed and bounced as if the area was crowded. Any calmness that it brought always came with a sense of danger. Maybe it was just all the symbolic red, but Norman could never be too sure.

Of course, one sound pierced through them all. It sounded like a carnival barker, looking to catch the attention of somebody willing to play their game. Interest piqued, Norman couldn’t help but shift his gaze to wherever that voice was coming from.

It seemed to be coming from a small girl, perhaps even close to his height, albeit an inch or so smaller. She seemed to wear what looked like an oversized dog hoodie, with ears of said hoodie all stitched up and trailing down near her petite waist. Platinum blonde hair peeked from the cutesy puppy apparel, as well as the academy’s uniform, signifying that she was indeed part of this prestigious place. Her socks were striped, her eyes were of a violet hue, and to top it all off, a lollipop hung in her mouth, and the girl constantly had to take it in and out as she tried to advertise herself.

“Step up, step up! Only one more position left, folks!” The girl cheered, “Come and play a thrillseeker’s game as old as time!”

Norman would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious. Thrillseeker’s game as old as time? What did that even mean? While smart, even he knew that he was sheltered, and thus couldn’t understand what such a thing was, let alone that it existed. With this new distraction, he didn’t even realize that he had stopped walking until the girl made eye contact.

“Hey! You! Are you interested?” The girl chirped, an optimism, while similar, was eerily unlike Emma’s. Something deep down told Norman that this girl wasn’t exactly normal.

Norman became nervous, “Ah- um, no thank you. I have nothing to wager if this is a gambling thing.”

“Oh, no no no no!” She suddenly squeaked, almost hyper or excited, “For this game, you don’t need money to wager! You already have what you’re going to have to wager!”

“I do?” The boy blinked. He didn’t have any significant items on his person. There were the clothes on his back, obviously, but other than that, there wasn’t much else he could give, “How can you tell?”

“Trust me, everyone can tell!” She cooed before giggling, “And the reward is certainly worth trying for!”

“Reward? Well… what’s this reward?”

That’s when that smile of hers widened, almost sending shivers down Norman’s spine. Maybe it was just how she smiled, but… this sent off more signals of danger than the red surrounding him did, “One mil’, of course.”

“O-One- One million dollars!?” Norman’s eyes widened. There was no way. That was too big of a sum to be real. And at a school festival, nonetheless? He knew this academy was rich, but there can’t be any way that the school would just be able to promise and give up one million dollars. Was this a scam? A trap? A trick?

“Impressive, right?” The girl asked, seemingly entertained by his surprise, “But I know what you might think already. You’re in disbelief, right?”

After he nodded, she continued, “Let me tell you a little secret, kid. We bet more than this amount on this regular basis.”

“Y-You’re joking!” He exclaimed.

All she did was giggle, “I’m a third-year here, as well as a part of the student council, so I have no reason to lie, y’know? Besides, even if I was lying, what would you lose?”

Norman couldn’t argue with that. Even if he was trapped in the room, Ray and Emma would have to go looking for him after the ten minutes was up. Besides, this would possibly be the only game he could play… and if that million dollar reward was real, it would help with all the struggles they’ve been going through the past month. It would be better than stealing food, that’s for certain.

“Sooo, are you going to keep gawking or are you gonna sign up?” The girl asked, her hand going down to pull out a clipboard from the oversized canine-based hoodie. It seemed to be something you had to sign, and there seemed to be quite a bit of signatures already on it. Counting in his head, there seemed to be twenty-one other people who had signed, and he would be number twenty-two.

“Well… that depends…” Norman stated, “What kind of game is this?”

The girl simply giggled, “Just know it’s gonna be a fun one, ‘kay?”

Although hesitant, Norman didn’t think he would have anything to lose. After all, he was basically wagering nothing for the chance to win a million dollars for a good cause, right? Carefully, he plucked the pen from the metal clutch of the board, clicking it before writing down his own signature and placing the pen back.

The girl had that wide smile again, saying, “You have made a great decision.” before stepping aside, revealing a normal-looking door behind her. Turning the knob, she opened it for Norman to head inside. Whatever this room was, it would probably be where the game ended up taking place. With a deep breath, the boy entered.

The room was much more extravagant than the boy had in mind. It looked almost like a dining room, and not at all like a classroom or a lounge like Norman had expected. A single chandelier hung down from the ceiling, faintly lighting up the slightly shaded red walls. Twenty-two seats sat neatly along a large table with a white tablecloth. Utensils and plates were set out for each seat, as if it had been prepared for an extravagant feast or dinner… There were also silver platters that were scattered about on the table, the toppings hiding whatever possibly delicious delicacy was hidden underneath. There were a few shelves that held what appeared to be old books, as well as normal dressers that held fancy decor, like decorative plates and more candles. A patterned rug laid underneath the table, tassels on it and all. Near the back of the room was a decorative armor set, standing still next to another display of a sword hanging on the wall. It seemed so real, and yet so fascinatingly pretty. Close by the aforementioned weapon seemed to be some sort of metal door, and standing in front of it happened to be what looked like another student, although his stance was more of a butler.

In each chair appeared to be other participants. Some were talking with one another, others sat quietly waiting for the game to begin. Norman didn’t recognize or know any of them, but being around people made him feel a more comfortable. It was better than roaming around the cavernous halls. Company kept him energized.

A boy with blue hair sat next to the only available seat, his hair very messy and all over the place. He did seem to be wearing a school uniform, but definitely not the one that this academy was associated with. He had a tie and suspenders, and he seemed like he had just sloppily thrown it on. He was the first to notice that Norman had entered, turning around in his seat and placing his arms on the top of it, “Well, well, well, looks like somebody finally showed up!”

A few of the heads turned, and with attention now settling on him, he could only shyly wave at everyone. The blue-haired boy, who did seem close to his age, maybe a year older, waved him over, “Come on, this is the only seat left!”

Not having much of a choice, Norman walked over and calmly took a seat, almost surprised to be touching the relaxing velvet that the chair was mainly composed of other than the golden-hued wood. Almost immediately, the boy on his left held out his hand, “Rokuro Yamakagashi. And you?”

Norman accepted the handshake, “Norman. I guess this isn’t a scam after all?”

“I doubt it. It’s hard to scam twenty-two people in one fancy-smancy room.” The boy, or Rokuro, said with a shrug. He does have a point… Norman thought, I would imagine a scam or something worse would be difficult with so many people around.

The girl from earlier skipped into the room, closing the door as she spoke, “Alrighty, that’s twenty-two people, riiight? Great! Now, I still have a few things to prepare, so you can all wait a minute or so longer, okaaaay?”

As her voice drew out, Norman swore he could’ve heard a clicking sound come from the wooden door. Even so, the girl continued, “I promise I won’t take long! Just behave yourselves, okaaaay?”

With a smile, the girl then retreating over to that butler-looking-student and the metal door. The butler stepped aside, allowing the girl to push the door open and walk away, and when she did, the door shut on its own.

The butler appeared intriguing to Norman. He looked fairly androgynous, with short light brown hair which included long bangs that swept to one side of his face. Red glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, highlighting his very dull eyes. He seemed to have a calm, or at the very least relaxed expression on his face. However, his body was rigid and stiff, almost like a corpse experiencing rigor mortis. His sleeves were rolled up, and he wore fancy white gloves. A towel hung down from one of his arms, something a butler would hold. Was he perhaps around to help whoever was hosting this game?

“He’s been standing there ever since this whole thing started, apparently,” Rokuro said, quite obviously noticing the white-haired kid’s gaze on the stranger, “It’s a bit weird how unmoving he is, ain’t it? Why is he here anyhow?”

“Maybe he’s helping out that girl?” Norman suggested.

“Eh, maybe. I guess we won’t know yet, huh?”  Rokuro shrugged, leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head.

Unfortunately, Rokuro was right. They would probably have to wait until they could figure out such a mystery themselves. Instead, Norman focused on looking at everyone else at the table. There seemed to be an array of people, to his surprise. Most did seem to be teenagers, though.

In the first seat seemed to be some sort of humanoid bunny. He had a creamy, almost pink coat of fur that seemed pretty smooth. With round glasses and eyes with pie-cut pupils, the rabbit seemed fairly harmless. Maybe he was around his age? Yet again, he did seem particularly young. Wearing a sweater vest with lace at the bottom and a white shirt underneath, he seemed at peace with his more feminine side. Honestly, he looked quite friendly, sitting calmly as his legs swung back and forth from his chair.

“That’s Parsnip. Parsnip Bunner, to be exact.” Norman perked up a bit when he heard Rokuro speak. It seemed like the blue-haired boy was quite attentive to what Norman was doing, “He seems nice, to say the least, albeit a bit unaware at times. Honestly, he gives me the creeps.”

“Why is that?” Norman asked, “He seems okay to me.”

“I don’t know, it’s just a feeling, I guess.” Rokuro chuckled awkwardly, although he held no real sheepishness about him.

In the second seat, right next to Rokuro, appeared to be a nonhuman once more. In fact, she looked more like a cookie… and a young one, at that! She had short purple hair that was curved towards her body. Her body was almost completely covered in this small, white, frilly dress. Nervously, she held onto what seemed to be a plush toy of… a rabbit? It also looked like an onion, honestly. She sniffled, just barely being able to match the height of the dining table. She seemed so scared, so Norman couldn’t help but feel bad.

“Hey, are you okay?” Norman asked, standing up a bit to get a better look at the cookie girl.

His voice only seemed to startle her, her voice quivering a bit as she spoke, “Hh.. I-I.. Aa..”

“I tried to console her before, but she just ended up crying.” Rokuro said, basically implying that it was a lost cause to try and help her. Norman felt uncomfortable just leaving a little girl to be scared on her own, so he spoke in a softer tone.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay… I won’t hurt you,” Norman assured, “Where are your parents? Are you here with anybody?”

The girl whimpered instead of speaking, but managed to shake her head, hugging that onion-rabbit plush close to her. She almost appeared to be quivering. Despite the pity that came from the white-haired boy, a part of him had gained a sense of unease. Why would a girl so young be taking part in what was called a “thrillseeker’s game”? And on her own, at that. Weren’t her parents allowed in here? Did they trust her enough to leave her all alone?

“Do you have a name?” Norman made sure to keep the same quiet tone, not wanting to upset the young one.

The cookie sniffled, “O… Onion…”

“Onion? Your name is Onion?”

“M-Mhm.. Hh..”

Onion… certainly, it was a unique name for a cookie of all things. Yet again, it was a cookie, so he couldn’t judge the naming process.

“It’s nice to meet you, Onion… My name is Norman.” He did his best to give her a gentle smile. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to do much of anything to calm the child’s nerves, as she merely shrunk a bit more into the chair, holding her bunny close.

“Well, it seems like you did better than me!” Rokuro chuckled, seemingly impressed, “You deal with little kids?”

“All of my life, that’s all I did.” Norman admitted. That was the truth, after all. Growing up back in their old home, he was surrounded with kids younger than him. He was like an older brother figure, and they were his younger siblings. Just like a family would, he loved them to death.

“Wow! You’re, like, an experienced babysitter then or something!” Rokuro teased slightly, a bit of a sly grin on his face. This boy was certainly the talkative type, but Norman didn’t mind one bit.

Now, to the person on his right was a taller, seemingly teenage girl. She had long blue hair in pigtails. She wore headphones with some sort of small microphone attached to them. With that shoulderless gray, black, and blue outfit, she did seem very familiar to him, although he couldn’t place his finger on it.

The girl caught him staring, however, “Hm? Are you another fan of mine?”

Her voice caught him off guard, as it didn’t sound completely human. In fact, it sounded fairly robotic. Was she a cyborg? Full-on robot? Norman was a bit speechless at first before forcing out, “Fan?”

“Don’t tell me that you’re that sheltered, dude!” Rokuro sat up, looking at the other, “That’s Hatsune-freaking-Miku!”

“Hatsune… Miku?” It took a few seconds before it clicked, “You mean, this is that singer girl you’d see on billboards and posters and stuff?”

“ That singer girl?? She’s literally a Vocaloid idol!” Rokuro exclaimed, almost slamming the palms of his hands against the table in shock, the silverware at his spot shifting a bit.

“Vocaloid?” Norman repeated, his gaze returning to the blue-haired girl, or Miku. The word was a bit unfamiliar to him, admittedly, but it did have a robotic feel to it.

“It’s, like, a special singing robot!” Rokuro began to explain, his voice quick, “They’re, like, super popular here in Japan! How can you not know what it is? They’re basically everywhere!”

“I, err..” Norman hesitated for a moment before saying, “I guess you can say that I’m a bit sheltered.”

“A bit is an understatement!” Rokuro exclaimed once more, causing the singer robot to giggle.

“Oh, you really flatter me too much,” Miku said with a small smile, “Sure, I’m the cutest, most popular, most beautiful, and most perfect Vocaloid in the world, but it’s okay if somebody doesn’t know me! It just means I opened a whole new world to them!”

That seems a bit like you’re hyping yourself up… Norman thought. Maybe she was a good singer, but having never heard any of her songs, he couldn't say whether he liked her. Maybe eventually, he’ll see if he can catch a listen to a tune or two. That is, if he was lucky enough.

“Well, do you like what you see, cutie?” Miku asked, an artificial sparkle in her eyes as if it was some attempt to make herself look cuter. It even seemed like she pitched her voice up a bit.

Needless to say, Norman didn’t think it was too cute, “Um, I guess?”

That seemed to satisfy the girl enough, and when she had moved on to talk to another, Norman leaned a bit across the table to look at whoever else was down his row. Next to Miku was a girl with dark brown hair wearing a black and pink sailor school uniform. With a red bow on her chest, she admittedly looked a bit bland, although her stance and body language seemed to tell him that she was at the very least shy.

With grayish brown eyes to match her hair, she seemed to have been staring right at Norman himself. When eye contact was made, her face flushed a rosy hue as she quickly looked away, as if looking at him again would turn her to stone. Being treated like Medusa surprised Norman, blinking for a few moments before awkwardly glancing away.

“That’s Kaya, or so I’ve heard,” Rokuro began, “Certainly a meek one. She’s been sorta staring at you the moment you came in.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me?” Norman questioned, his gaze now on the one talking.

Rokuro merely gave a playful shrug, “Why? You have an interest in girls gawking at you?”

Norman’s weight shifted as a red burned like fire across his face, “I- I never meant to imply that! I’m just saying if people are staring, maybe you should say something?”

“Well, quite a few people were staring at you the moment you walked in. A quite obvious reaction when they hear a door open and footsteps, really.” Rokuro reasoned.

Once again, Rokuro did have a point. Norman did indeed get a few turning heads to look at him, so there wouldn’t be much to point out on his new friend’s perspective. Norman couldn’t exactly blame the other for leaving out such a detail.

Next to the introverted girl appeared to be a teenage boy. A blue hood of his covered up a bit of fluffy brown hair. The rest of this sweater-like hoodie was of a brownish beige color. Most of his face was covered up with orange-tinted goggles and a black bandana. Nervously, his dark-gloved hands tapped against the table, but that’s not what made Norman curious about the teen. Intertwined with the tapping, the boy twitched, his neck suddenly jerking to the side or a joint suddenly cracking back. It was quite unusual for the sheltered Norman.

“His name is Toby, I think?” Rokuro placed his elbow on the table, resting his chin against his knuckles, “Pretty quiet unless you’re friendly with him. Then he’s energetic as all Hell.”

“You make that sound like that’s a bad thing.” Norman pointed out.

“Hey, I never said that it was!” Rokuro put up his free hand, as if trying to be defensive, “I’m just pointing out what I know, y’know?”

Norman nodded a bit before turning his attention back to the jittery Toby, “He’s quite covered up. Isn’t he hot at all in those clothes?”

“He hasn’t complained about it, so I guess not. Although if it were me, I would've melted!” Rokuro spoke jokingly, laughing a bit as he did so. Norman found himself lightly chuckling too.

Next to Toby seemed to be a younger child, once again maybe a bit younger than Norman. With a simple complexion, they looked completely androgynous, with brown, short hair that came with curled bangs. They didn’t wear much other than a blue sweater with magenta stripes, with the pants a slightly different blue, and their boots close to matching their hair color. Strangely, their eyes looked to be closed, and yet they seemed to be talking to a small boy with golden blonde hair. 

The boy the kid was talking to had grand blue eyes that stood out from their mainly white and blue outfit. Admittedly, fancy would be an understatement when it came to his attire; it was full of lace, tassels, golden accents, and with a white hat on his head to top it right off. He looked like some sort of rich kid, but he definitely didn’t belong to this academy.

“Frisk and Luke,” Rokuro kept it simple, “Can you believe what that Luke guy is wearing?”

“He’s the blonde, right? It’s certainly eye-catching.” Norman admitted. Honestly, he wouldn’t mind wearing something like that himself.

“I bet he’s just showing off.” Rokuro waved off. Perhaps his new friend was right, but upon seeing what was assumed to be Frisk touching a part of his outfit, and with Luke’s smile present, Norman felt a bit of doubt. Would somebody just “showing off” be so calm with somebody of an assumed lower class touching such a fancy outfit like that?

Next to the rich male was a taller girl, with long black hair that fell down to her waist. Once again, it was a different school uniform, this time white with a greyish blue skirt that was surprisingly short. A large red bow was on her chest and a black belt wrapped around her waist. She wore brown combat boots, and you could just barely see black socks peeked out from them. Unlike most of the others, she had a rather serious expression on her face, as if she was suspicious of even the silverware that sat in front of her.

“That chick’s Yuri Honjo,” Rokuro said once more, “All she said was her name and that’s literally itl.”

“How do you know so much about these people?” Norman finally inquired, “You certainly seem to know everyone’s named, at the very least.

“I was the first one to sign up. Plus, I’d like to think I’m a friendly guy, so I try to introduce myself to everyone I meet so far.” Rokuro smiled, showing off his pearly white teeth as he did so.

So he’s the first, and I’m the last? What a coincidence that we’re seated right next to each other. Norman thought, straightening himself out for a moment. Although, now I’m curious. Why was he the first to sign up? Was he just lucky?

Of course, Norman knew he had to think about that later. Now at the back of the table, right in the middle, seemed to be one of those cookie people, like Onion was. His hair was pink and fluffy, and so was his clothing, being nothing but pastel pinks and white puffs, frills, and lace. His pink eyes brightened up his appearance with a dramatic flare. Although Norman didn’t know what he was talking to with the person on his right, he could hear the flamboyant tone he spoke with.

“That’s Whipped Cream. I already asked, but no, he’s not related to Onion.” Rokuro sighed.

“Why would Onion be related to him? They look nothing alike.” Norman pointed out, mostly with how Onion had purple eyes and hair, while Whipped Cream had the contrasting pinks.

“Well, they’re both the only cookies here, so I just thought that maybe they would be related.” Rokuro reasoned. It was true that these two were the only cookies here. In fact, most people were human, with only a few exceptions. Norman couldn’t exactly blame that feeling of connection, thanks to the scarcity of other species.

Whoever this attention-grabbing cookie was talking to seemed to be quite the loudmouth. Another boy close to his age, his laughter could’ve easily filled up the room. He seemed to be wearing a baseball uniform that was yellow, black, and white. He even had matching wristbands and a black cap with a yellow color underneath. A marking on his right cheek and admittedly bizarre eyebrows, he looked as interesting as the rest. His grin showed off one pointy fang, and his eyes gleamed an orangish yellow.

“And then I said, I said, ‘Why did the football coach go to the bank? To get his quarter back’! Bahahaha!” Once more, the boy’s laughter rang out at his own corny joke.

“That’s Kansai. He’s the best player of his school’s baseball team, apparently. Wouldn’t stop bragging about it.” Rokuro recalled.

“He looks to be around my age.” Norman mused outloud.

“According to him, he got separated from his friends at this festival and just gave up and decided to play a game instead. His friends are probably worried sick about him, but he doesn’t seem to care.”

“Maybe he expects his friends will eventually find him?”

Rokuro shrugged, “I guess only time will tell. At least I’m not that poor sap next to him.”

This “poor sap” Rokuro was referring to was a teen boy with neat black hair. The shine of his glasses did nothing to hide his black eyes. He seemed a bit more casual, with a blue button-up shirt, a brown belt, and some black jeans, but his stance was anything but casual. He seemed annoyed, as if internally screaming, most likely because of the constant talker next to him. Both his elbows were on the table and his hands were clasped together, right near the center of his face from how he slouched. The only thing that seemed to keep from his snapping was some sort of squirrel that sat on his shoulder. It was small, with a grey and brown coat with a white underbelly. The assumed pet appeared to be trying to console the irritated male.

“Who’s he?” Norman asked, to which Rokuro responded: “Anatoly. He looks pretty smart, but he doesn’t talk much about himself. Best not to annoy him though; that baseball kid seems to have that covered.”

Well, Rokuro wasn’t wrong, and Norman certainly didn’t want to get on his bad side. Instead, he allowed his eyes to continue down the row to whoever sat to Anatoly’s left. This one seemed to be an adult male with pink hair, and was old enough to have a small bit of chin hair to his name. The first thing Norman noticed was the prosthetics the male had on him, mostly with his robotic arms and his black eyes with pink pupils. He felt a bit bad of whatever the male had to possibly go through to have his arms and eyes replaced. He wore a short-sleeved white shirt that had a pink and black suit vest over it. You could see the black bow-tie and buttons the white shirt had behind the vest’s impressive v-neck. Overall, he had a strangely relaxed, yet classy air about him. He seemed to be attempting to calm down Anatoly, like what the tensed male’s squirrel was doing.

“That’s Victor Blake. I have no clue what a classy-looking guy is doing at a school festival.” Rokuro confessed.

“Maybe he has a kid who goes here?” Norman suggested.

“I wouldn’t be too surprised if he had a kid who goes here,” Rokuro stated, “I mean, look at him! He screams, ‘I’m a rich guy’!”

Norman chuckled, “I guess you are right about that.”

Suddenly, almost every conversation was halted when a girl let out a loud squeal before the thud of a chair falling over was heard. This had come from the girl right next to Victor. A girl with long, choppy purple hair had somehow managed to lean too back in the chair enough to fall down, her back against the chair still. Her body was covered in bandages and her cute apron was tied, so it wouldn’t fold up when she fell. 

Victor seemed startled, looking down at the girl, before his cheeks shifted into a shade of pink. Norman stood up to see why Victor reacted in such a way, leaning over the table to see what he saw… And boy, was he glad he couldn’t see much. The girl seemed to be in, needless to say, an unfortunately compromising position, at which at the perfect angle, one would easily see up her skirt.

The girl whimpered, her purple eyes glittering with tears as she cried out, “I-I-I’m sorryyyyy!! I-I can’t believe this happeneeeed!”

“How the Hell do you even end up in that position!?” Kansai exclaimed, obviously looking away as to not embarrass the girl further.

“Snrk- I mean, I’d think some of us are pretty lucky. We might not get this chance again.” Rokuro sneered.

“Don’t be crass!” Norman scolded, although his scolding was quite the light one.

“Are you alright, my dear?” Victor asked, managing to take the girl’s hand and pull her up. 

Once the clumsy girl was on her feet, she shakily propped the chair back up, “I-I’m, um, I-I’m okay… I-I’m r-really, really sorry..!! I’m such a klutz..!!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, my dear, there’s no need to apologize, I promise.” Victor chuckled softly, obviously doing his best to soothe the tearful girl.

Norman’s gaze left the girl to look at the butler. Still, he seemed unmoving, but to Norman’s surprise, he was looking over at the girl. He seemed to have a slight look of pity, and yet showed no sign of movement. Not even to check if the girl was alright…

“That’s Mikan.”

 Rokuro’s voice drew Norman back to what was going on, “Huh- who, the girl that just fell?”

“This isn’t the first time she fell, actually,” Rokuro smirked, “She tripped on her way in and seemed to be quite the clumsy type. Not that I’m complaining. She apologizes an awful lot, though.”

Norman couldn’t help but to feel a bit sorry for the girl. After all, she couldn’t control her balance or her clumsy nature. And to end up in such a provocative position in front of strangers… Needless to say, he felt empathy.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” A ginger girl next to Mikan asked, “I mean, that was quite the tumble.”

“P-Please don’t worry about me! I-I-I’m sorry!” Mikan whimpered once more. It was as if she was simply scared of the notion of any concern towards her.

The ginger girl seemed to be around Mikan’s age, maybe a year or so younger. Her hair was tied back in a long ponytail, and her purple eyes were much darker compared to Mikan’s. She was one of the many who wore a different school uniform, hers coming with a blue blazer of sorts with a beigeish-white shirt underneath, all topped off with a pink skirt and a green tie.

“Little Sara Chidioun over there-” Rokuro pointed at the ginger girl as she continued to mildly worry over the stuttering Mikan, “-is certainly something.”

“Certainly something? That’s all you have to say?” Norman asked, frankly quite taken aback. Rokuro seemed like he’d give his two-cents about most of the people here, and yet that’s all he had to say on Sara?

Rokuro shrugged, as if that was really all he had, “What? She has a strange aura to her, that’s all. Besides, I look at her, I end up looking at Mikan instead.”

“You really need some self-control.” Norman sighed, crossing his arms, which only made Rokuro laugh a little.

“Oh, cheer up, man! I know I don’t have any sort of shot with her!” Rokuro spoke with a chipper tone, “I’ll probably never see her again after this game is said and done, so I might as well enjoy it while it lasts!”

With a quiet huff, Norman decided to move on. Next seemed to be another girl, this one having platinum blonde hair in a pair of pigtails. She seemed to have some sort of black school uniform blazer on, and underneath was a school’s volleyball hoodie, with the number nine in red and blue near her waist. She also looked to be wearing her uniform’s red pants and brown boots to tie it all up. Her blue eyes seemed focused on her phone, but soon enough, she let out an annoyed sigh.

“My phone doesn’t have service!” She loudly complained, “Does anybody else have service?”

Considering she was across from Miku, the vocaloid would obviously answer her, “I’m afraid I’m not getting much of a connection here on my side, either.”

“I can’t even make a call! How can a rich school have no service?” The girl asked.

“Maybe they don’t want people wasting time on their phones?” Norman piped up, “I mean, this is meant to be a prodigious and wealthy academy, right? They don’t want students to waste their education.”

“I’ve seen a few people on their phone during the festival.” Rokuro added, although not in Norman’s favor.

“Yeah, and I could text and call when I was out of this room.” The girl sighed, her finger playing with her hair.

“I guess it’s just something to do with this room, I guess,” Miku said, “I mean, we’re playing a game, right? Maybe they just don’t want us to cheat.”

A fair point, but a part of me has a bad feeling about this. Norman thought, What if something happens and a person needs help? Yet again, the door is right there, and people are outside. So I guess we should be fine.

“Anyways, that’s Ann Takamaki,” Rokuro spoke, finally saying the girl’s name, “She’s part of her school’s volleyball team.”

“Best player, like I should be.” The girl, or Ann, said with a smile.

“Two sports players here…” Norman said, looking back at the rowdy Kansai, who continued making bad jokes and annoying Anatoly. That was quite the coincidence, admittedly.

Now, for the person across from Norman. Looking over, he’s surprised to see a girl with black hair tied in a small side ponytail glaring at him. She was petite, two pink clips holding up a part of her hair that matched her pink eyes. Of course, he recognized the school uniform; she had one exactly like the one Kaya wore. She wore a brown satchel of sorts that hung down from her waist. Even so, her glare was shooting daggers through Norman.

“That’s Kat,” Rokuro introduced, “She’s also been staring at you ever since you came in, and I have a feeling why.”

“Shut up. You don’t know anything.” The girl, or Kat, grumbled, crossing her arms, although never averting her gaze from Norman.

The white-haired male hesitated before speaking, “Do you, uh… happen to go to the same school as Kaya?”

Kat paused for a moment before nodding, “We’re in the Occult club together, but that doesn’t matter.”

Occult club? That quiet girl that was staring at him earlier was part of the Occult club? The shock must’ve shown on Norman’s face as Kat spoke again.

“What’s with that look? You don’t think Kaya’s a witch now, do you?” Kat’s body seemed to tense, as if getting defensive.

“Ah- oh, no, not at all!” Norman put his hands up, an awkward and nervous smile being forced upon his face, “I-I’m just a bit surprised, that’s a-all!”

Kat glared at him for a few more moments before relaxing, “You get a pass this time. But try anything with Kaya or I, and I’ll kick your ass, that’s for certain.”

“You’re feisty for somebody so small.” Rokuro teased.

“And you talk big for somebody who can’t comb their hair right.” Kat shot back.

Rokuro seemed unaffected by the comeback, simply laughing, “Okay, okay, you got me there.”

Norman forced himself to laugh a bit, although he found this whole conversation a bit uncomfortable. Thus, his focus moved down once more, this time to whoever was across from Rokuro. This was another girl, and she had silverish-gray hair that contrasted her bright red eyes. Her hair was put into two braids with white ribbons, which stood out against her dark green and foggy gray school uniform. What was so strange about her, was that next to her chair seemed to be some sort of long, straight case that she seemed to be protectively holding onto. She had a calm demeanor, and while quiet, it was obvious it wasn’t because she was shy; it was because she was focused.

“That’s Peko Pekoyama,” Rokuro introduced once more, “She’s not much of a talker either. You see that case she has? That holds a sword.”

“A- A sword?” Norman repeated, “Like, a real one?”

“Bamboo,” The girl, or Peko, quickly spoke up, as if to reassure the white-haired boy, “It’s used for training purposes. Nothing more.”

“Does that mean you do fencing? Or Kendo?” Norman inquired, genuinely curious.

“Basic sword-fighting. It’s nothing major.” Peko spoke in a dismissive manner, as if her ability to even wield a sword wasn’t impressive in the slightest.

“I’d beg to differ.” Then, somebody added themselves into their conversation. In the seat next to Peko, a boy with dark blue hair accompanied by purple eyes had made himself known, with another boy with cyan hair dwelling close by next to him.

The dark haired boy had a very assured aura about him. Wearing another different school uniform, it was a grey blazer with black pants and a black crisscross bowtie. Yellow accents and buttons made sure that his blazer stayed shut. His hair was slicked and smooth, although it had a few edges here and there.

The cyan-haired boy had a much different look to him. One of his aqua green eyes was covered up by his hair, which was almost in a bowl cut. He wore a cyan button-up sweater, which had a grey shirt underneath and a white crisscross bow. Norman would’ve confused the two of going to different schools had it not been a shield-like symbol the two had on both of their chests, only the first boy had his in yellow and grey, and the other had his in black and yellow.

“K-Kamiya-san…” The cyan boy seemed much shyer than the other, mostly stuttering out what Norman presumed to be the first boy’s last name.

“Why would you think that my skills would be impressive?” Peko asked, examining the first boy up and down.

“Well, I don’t know any other reason the school would allow one of their students to carry around a sword, let alone for non-practice reasons,” The boy responded, “Even if it’s bamboo, one would usually get in trouble taking a possession off of school property.”

“Eh, you’ve got a point, I guess,” Rokuro stated before looking at Norman, “That’s Sai Kamiya and Tetsu Kageyama. Sai is the student council president at his school, and Tetsu is apparently the treasurer.”

“He’s more than just a treasurer,” The first boy, or Sai, said with confidence, “Tetsu-chan and I are also childhood friends, thus making him the most important part of the council.”

“T-That’s b-bias, Kamiya-san!” The second boy, or Tetsu, fretted as a red tint of embarrassment dusted onto his cheeks, “B-Besides, I don’t even do much… and I told you, y-you don’t have to call me ‘Tetsu-chan’...”

“And I told you that you didn’t have to call me ‘Kamiya-san’. I’m not above you, Tetsu-chan, we’re equals.” Kamiya pointed out to the other.

“I-I know, but…” Tetsu’s voice trailed up, as if he didn’t actually have an argument against what his friend said, “W-Well… I like to call you Kamiya-san…”

“And I like to call you Tetsu-chan.” Sai smirked, a hint of pride in him winning the little quarrel, if you could even call it that.

“How can you two be so cloooose?” The final participant, or a light-brown haired girl, whined, resting her arms and head against the table, “My summer boyfriend and I aren’t even like that.”

The girl was also fairly short, wearing another school uniform that had a brown blazer and a very small pink tie, and her denim-colored skirt matched her knee-high socks. Her hair was fluffy, almost messy, even held back by a small yellow clip that looked like the letter T .

“We’ve just known each other for a while, that’s all.” Sai said, his voice smooth and calm, as if he didn’t mind being asked questions about such a friendship.

“More importantly, how can you have a summer boyfriend?” Rokuro asked, “DO you just, like, date during the summer?”

“That was the plan, yeah, but we started to date a little longer during the start of this school year, and this was meant to be a date…” The girl began to ramble a bit as she explained, “Buuut we got separated, and I thought maybe this would be the game he would be into, so I hoped that maybe he would find me, but I see that’s no longer the case.”

“Wow, you’re terrible when it comes to dating!” Rokuro snickered.

“Rokuro!” Norman called out his name in a slightly scolding manner.

“Hey, I’m just saying! That relationship just sounds terrible if you can’t even break up with them!” Rokuro stated.

The girl huffed, a pout obvious on her face, “I bet you’re not even in a relationship! Besides, I actually really like the guy…”

“If you like him, why do you want to break up?” Norman asked.

The girl paused, hesitating, “Well… It’s complicated.”

Rokuro simply chuckled before looking at Norman, “And that’s Tomoe Koga. Simple girl, albeit a bit ditzy.”

“I’m not ditzy!” The girl, or Tomoe’s, head shot up, staring right up at Rokuro, “Who said that I’m ditzy?”

The mischievous boy gave her a smirk, “I just did, ditz.”

“Are you usually like this with everyone you meet?” Norman asked.

Now, Rokuro’s smirk was directed at the white-haired boy by his left side, “Only the ones I like to tease.”

Before Norman could get another word in, the metal door near the back suddenly opened. The room quieted down as the girl in the dog hoodie skipped back into the room. This time, the door had stayed open, but only darkness was on the other side. Even so, most of the focus was on the chipper female.

“Alright! Everything is set up and prepared!” The girl cheered, “Now, I should probably take the time to introduce myself, who will be hosting this very exciting game!”

She took the lollipop out of her mouth, a grin on her face as she threw her arms out as if attention wasn’t already on her, “I’m Runa YomozukI! I’m usually the one overseeing games, but for today, I’ll be hosting one of my very own!”

Then, Runa moved one of her hands in the butler’s direction, “And that’s Rei! He’ll be the one overseeing and giving you what you need for this game!”

Once he was introduced, the butler, or Rei, gave a polite bow. “It is nice to meet you all,” He said, his voice as androgynous as his looks were, “I hope I can provide you with the best assistance I can.”

“Yeah, yeah, you two will be helping out with the game, we get it,” Kansai said, crossing his arms as he looked at the two of them, “But we don’t even know what this game is !”

“No offense, but for once, he appears to be correct..” Anatoly agreed, fixing his glasses and fixing his posture a bit, that squirrel still on his shoulder, “All we know is that it is a ‘thrill seeker’s game as old as time’... at least, that’s how it was advertised.”

“Will we finally get to know what we’re doing?” Frisk tilted their head.

“Mhm! But I think you all need a few drinks first! Trust me, you’ll need it !” Runa said, snapping her fingers and getting Rei’s attention.

With a solemn nod, Rei walked into the room behind the metal door, and a few moments later, returned, this time pushing around a small cart. On it seemed to be a teapot and a small bowl of sugar cubes. Carefully, the butler began to make his way around the table, giving everyone some tea that was freshly poured from the pot, and for those who requested it, some sugar cubes.

When it came to Norman’s turn, he rejected the sugar cubes. “I don’t really like sugar.” He explained simply.

Rei simply gave the younger boy a nod of understanding before continuing on to pour the tea.

“Hey, who wants to challenge me to a drinking contest?” Kansai asked outloud once he got his tea. Rei stopped the cart for a moment, glancing back as he saw the rowdy boy grin.

“The tea’s still hot, you’ll burn your whole mouth if you try to chug it.” Sara warned.

“I’ll take you up on that offer!” Rokuro suddenly piped up.

“Rokuro, what are you doing?” Norman asked, surprised as he turned to his friend, “You heard Sara, if he tries to chug it, he’ll burn his whole mouth!”

Rokuro smirked, “Exactly, my dear friend.”

“Okay, one, two, three, go!!” Kansai exclaimed, holding his glass in his hand.

“Wait, K-Kansai–!!” Kaya stood up, but it was too late. Kansai put the glass to his lips and started to down it, only to immediately spit it out, coughing and sputtering.

“H-Hout-” The baseball fanatic wheezed, barely able to speak, “I-Itsth t-too hout-!!”

“I told you!” Sara sighed, standing up, intending to make her way to him, only for Rei to raise up his hand to stop her.

“I am the butler here, so I’ll take care of this.” Rei assured. Sara hesitated, but backed down as he quickly retreated to the back room, only to quickly return with a cold glass of water.

“Drinking this may help you out.” Rei explained, but couldn’t say much else before Kansai snatched the chilled beverage from the older male and started to chug it.

Rokuro chuckled before taking a small sip of his own tea, “That’ll shut him up a bit.”

Luke snickered a bit, watching the boy across near him suck on the ice cube, “Didn’t think that through, did you?”

Kansai, although unable to speak, barely managed to stick his tongue out at him, albeit nearly spitting out some water.

Norman quietly sighed before looking over at the cocky Rokuro, “You’re going to have to apologize.”

“Aw, come on, Norman, it’s his fault for doing something so stupid!” Rokuro insisted, although Norman wasn’t having it.

“ Now , Rokuro.” Norman narrowed his eyes, hoping that perhaps could bring up a more intimidating effect.

Whether it worked, he couldn’t tell, as Rokuro sighed before standing up a little, “Hey, Kansai! Sorry, dude! You just drank the tea too fast, I barely could get a sip in!”

That wasn’t the exact truth, but Norman had a feeling that would be the best that he would be able to get out of him. He sighed, letting himself sink into his chair a bit. Carefully, he took a sip of his own tea. The warmth in his hands made him feel relaxed, and gave him faint memories of back when he was at the Grace Field House. Way before any of them knew the truth, a hot drink on a rainy day while reading a good book was the best pastime to have. He missed those days. He missed these small luxuries.

“My dears, you were saying something about revealing what this game is now?” Victor asked, his eyes on Runa, who was standing away from the table, grinning.

“Ah, yes, the game! Rei, get the thing , pretty please?” Runa requested, although her request was more of a command as she waved her hand to dismiss the butler. He nodded before pushing the cart back into the dark room.

Once he was gone, Runa continued to speak, “First, I must thank you all for deciding to spend your precious time by signing up for this! As a first-time game maker, I find myself all giddy and excited! So, I really, reaaallyyyy did my best to prepare the most exciting, anxiety-inducing game imaginable!”

Anxiety-inducing? Those words made Norman tense. Any pleasant memories were halted when he heard that, now a bit concerned. What did Runa mean by that? Why describe it in such a way?

“So, will this game be a scary one then?” Whipped Cream inquired.

“P-Please, n-not… n-not scary…” Onion whimpered, already beginning to tear up.

Runa’s smile went wider, and Norman felt the atmosphere become thick around him. Something about that look was unnatural. It made him feel like everyone here had made a terrible decision. As if some impending doom was lurking above their heads. He only needed to glance around to know that everyone else felt the same.

Rei returned from the room, a silver platter covered with a lid in his hand. Calmly, he walked over to Tomoe before placing down the silver platter. Tomoe glanced up at Rei, as if trying to find out if she had permission to even touch the lid. Rei gave no such expression, instead looking over at Runa, as if he was waiting for a command himself.

“The game you signed up for was invented between the 1850s and the 1920s,” Runa began, “The first accounts of it were back with soldiers in their civil war. The name, however, comes from an author of a pulp fiction series back in 1937. It’s a game of chance, and of course, the thrill comes from the one out of six chance of losing something important to you.”

The butler glanced down at Tomoe, as if silently speaking to her. Norman could see the girl visibly swallow before she looked down at the platter before her. All eyes were on her, there was no denying that. Hesitantly, she placed her hand on the top of the lid before slowly removing it to reveal whatever devilish delicacy could be present.

Unfortunately, there was no food on that plate.

There was a revolver instead, surrounded by a plethora of small bullets.

“The game we’ll be playing…” Runa announced, “Is Russian Roulette !”

Chapter Text

All eyes were on the revolver, and the most common reaction between the group all was a panic or sudden anxiety. Norman was on the anxious end of the spectrum. Like everyone else present, he had heard of the fatal game of risk. He had never thought he would ever play it, considering how deadly it was. This was the thrillseeker’s game? This was allowed ?

“Wh… What!?” Ann suddenly stood up, staring down at the revolver before looking at Runa, “What the Hell!? We didn’t sign up for this!”

“What do you mean? You literally did!” Runa said, pulling out the clipboard and showing off that dreaded paper, covered in twenty-two signatures. Norman felt his stomach twist upon seeing Runa’s ecstatic expression, “Each one of you decided to be here. You all decided to play, yeah? There’s no excuse for that!”

“I… I really can’t do this, I’m sorry!” Luke squeaked, standing up in a panic, “This is– I can’t even express how wrong this is, you have to cut me out of this!”

“Cut you out?” Runa tilted her head before grinning again, “I mean, you could tryyyy to leave if you wanna!”

“T-Then… Then we’re going!” Kaya hesitantly stood up as well. People began to stand up, Norman included, and each headed to the door. Norman was a bit surprised upon seeing Runa and Rei not stopping them. But why did they have those smiles?

Confusion remained until the door refused to open.

Whipped Cream tried a few more times, jiggling and pushing down at the handle, “It– It won’t budge!”

“Wh-What do you mean ‘it won’t budge’!?” Anatoly exclaimed, even the squirrel that sat on his shoulder seemed to be in the same distress as he was.

“It means it won’t budge, dummy!!” Kansai pushed his way to the front of the small crowd that had formed before pushing and pulling against the door, but no luck was had.

“I think it could be locked!” Toby realized, his neck twitching a moment after.

Norman looked back at the grinning girl, and near everyone followed suit. With attention shifting onto her, Runa giggled, “What, did you really think that I wouldn’t be expecting this?”

This was a trap after all. A scam. A kidnapping. But it was also a ruse; it was as if the girl had placed down a mousetrap and, like the greedy rats they were, the players had been ensnared upon the promise of a certain type of cheddar.

“My dear, I think it’s best that you let us go now,” Victor stated, his tone still calm, albeit serious, “I promise that I won’t tell my friend, who happens to be a lawyer, about this, but I can’t say the same about anybody else here.”

“This must be against this academy’s rules!” Sai wasn’t as calm as Victor, and was, in fact, primarily angry, “When this school’s headmaster here’s about this, you’ll most likely be expelled!”

“K-Kamiya-san, don’t get h-her angry!” Tetsu held onto Sai’s arm, hiding slightly behind the other.

“Expelled?” Runa burst out into laughter, “Do you know who you’re talking to? I’m part of the student council!”

“Why would being a part of the student council exempt you from being expelled?” Frisk asked, “This is still wrong! Why would you even host this?”

The gambling section.

Suddenly, it clicked in Norman’s mind. The reason Runa was hosting this was because it was allowed. Russian Roulette was a type of gamble, after all. Since the school had so much gambling around, that must mean that the academy allowed such risk-taking events. While a normal student probably wouldn’t be allowed to pull off such stunts like this, but because she was in a position of important power…

“Gambling is allowed in this school, isn’t it?” Norman asked, “That’s why you want to gamble with this.”

“Wow, you’re smarter than you look!” Runa smirked, “As long as it’s a gamble and agreed upon by both parties, a bet may take place, and anything can be a gamble! It’s just the basic rules of this school!”

“But we didn’t agree to this!” Ann objected.

Runa had a counterargument, “Your signatures said otherwise. As long as I have that you signed up, that counts as all parties agreeing!”

“So, even if something happens to us, you won’t be at fault, will you?” Luke asked, and much to his dismay, Runa only answered with another twisted grin.

“This is bogus!!” Kansai yelled, “When our friends find out we’re stuck in here, they’ll get us out!!”

Among the yelling and panicked voices, Norman could hear Onion’s crying and sobbing. The poor cookie was bawling, natrually afraid of what was going on. She was without anybody to comfort her…

Well, until Norman went over to her side, kneeling down to her level before giving her a gentle embrace, “Shh, shh, there, there, everything will be okay, I promise, it’s going to be alright…”

Now, his initial panic was turning into anger. Why? Why would anybody force little kids into this? High-schoolers, he would have a bit of a better understanding of, but children? Onion here was, what? Four, maybe five? What did she do to deserve being here other than unknowingly signing her name on a paper? He felt the flame of anger burn in his stomach, which made him more ill than before.

“Come on, guys, this can’t be an actual Russian Roullette game, right?” Rokuro suddenly asked, “I-I mean… those bullets! The revolver! It has to be fake, right? Like, one of those realistic-looking toys, y’know?”

“I guess that is a possibility…” Peko wondered for a moment before asking, “We can ask Rei to do anything for us as long as it’s for our satisfaction, correct?”

Upon Runa nodding, Peko looked over at the butler, “Show us that the gun works.”

“Y-Yeah! Show us how fake it is!” Rokuro added on, although his comment wasn’t necessary.

“As you wish.” Rei bowed a bit before taking the gun from its silver plating. He caressed it with his gloved hands for a moment before opening to the barrel of the gun. He picked up one of the bullets and inserted it in before clicking the barrel back into place. Adjusting himself and the barrel slightly, he looked at one of the decorative plates on the shelves before pointing the dangerous weapon at it.  A few seconds of intense silence passed until–

BANG!

Norman could hear Mikan squeal as a gunshot rang out. If that wasn’t loud enough, the plate had burst into nothing but porcelain fragments. Barely anything of it was still intact, and now, a bullet hole was struck into the wall behind.

Norman’s ears rang, and all he could do was stare for a few moments, the sobbing cookie child remaining in his arms. The gun was very real, there was no denying that anymore. That comfort of denial and uncertainty had been stripped from them once more. Now, nothing was left to comfort them.

“This is fucking bullshit!! I want out of this!!” Kat cried out, “We shouldn’t be forced to play this fucking death trap of a game!!”

Kat paused before exclaiming, pointing directly at Runa, “The key! If this room is locked, then you must have the key, don’t you!?”

“Oh? You mean this key?” Runa pulled out, in fact, a key from her hoodie’s pocket. It seemed to have a reddish tint to it,most likely copper. She hung it out to taunt everyone, spinning her finger within the circular hole it harbored before speaking again, “I know what you’re thinking already. You’re thinking that maybe you can steal the key from me, right?”

With a prideful expression, she suddenly pinched the key with her two fingers, holding up as she tilted her head up too. She opened her mouth, and before anybody could comprehend anything quick enough to stop her.

She let the key fall into her mouth and she swallowed it down.

Mikan cried out, “W-Why would y-y-you do that!? S-Swallowing keys a-aren’t good f-f-f-for your digestive system!”

“That’s not what we should be concerned about!” Sai seemed to unintentionally snap at her, “She just ate the only key that can be used to get out of this place!”

“W-W-What do we do now?” Kaya asked, terror in her eyes.

“The metal door!” Norman quickly pointed out the door was on the other side of the room, “We can go through that room, can’t we? Maybe there’s a way out?”

“Oh, don’t even bother with that!” Runa said, “Look as much as you like, if you can even get into it! There’s no escape there, it’s just a place to put the stuff we need for the game!”

“So, there is no escape, miss dog-girl?” Parsnip gulped, his paws behind his back and his ears perked down a little.

Norman didn’t like any of this at all. But he knew that somebody had to come for them, right? When Emma and Ray notice that he hasn't met up with them, they’ll come searching for him. They had to. They have to. If they don’t… he doesn’t want to think about what could happen. They need him. The little kids waiting for the three of them need him. He couldn’t just stay stuck in here, playing what could kill him.

There was a small moment of silence, where the panic had become hard, rigid fear, enough so for the room to be anchored down by silence. That is, until Yuri calmly walked back to the table before sitting down where she was sitting before.

“W-What are you d-doing?” Toby asked.

“We have no other choice. We’ll have to play the game,” Yuri said, “None of us are strong enough to break down the door, we have no real access to the key now, and somebody would’ve heard us yelling and panicking by now. This room could be soundproof.”

The students outside of the room. That’s right, they would’ve heard them, no matter how scarce it was. Norman looked back at the locked door. It really was a mousetrap for them all.

“Well… I guess you have a point…” Toby mumbled before going back to his seat as well, “Besides, m-maybe Russian Roulette won’t be so bad!”

“Won’t be so bad!? Do you even hear yourself right now??” Ann interrogated, “We could die!!”

“Or we could win a million dollars.” Miku pointed out. That’s right, there was still that supposed award. However, the validity of even that claim was starting to be questioned. What if that was part of the snare, too? Nothing but a lie, a false claim.

“The reward doesn’t matter at this point,” Yuri stated, keeping her gaze away from the others, “For now, you’ll be lucky to survive the first five minutes in this game.”

The unfortunate truth was, Yuri was right. This game of luck… This game of chance… Anybody would be grateful each time they managed to survive one turn of Russian Roulette. Norman couldn’t help but to think about his chances. One out of twenty-two people plus a five out of six chance of survival, assuming the game only uses one bullet in a six-chamber round barrel. Each person would have that five out of six chance of survival then. If his nervous calculations were correct, there was only a %0.034 chance of his own survival. Odds weren’t in his favor, not anybody else’s, and that made him worried.

“But there must be a way to get out of this, isn’t there?” Sara asked, “We don’t know that this room is actually soundproof, we probably just weren’t loud enough!”

“I’m sorry to cause you any further distress, ma’am–” Rei suddenly spoke up, having been mostly silent this whole time, “–but I am afraid that this room is indeed soundproof. I helped establish this room, after all, so I should know.”

Sara, perhaps still in disbelief, turned around and began to bang and knock on the door, crying out for help. For somebody to come and save them, or perhaps get somebody to help them. Unfortunately, the upset ginger never got any response whatsoever, even after a minute of hopeful banging.

“We… We really have no c-choice, do we?” Tomoe covered her mouth with her hands, her breathing shaky, as if she was holding back any urge to cry.

“My friends will kick your butt, ya’ hear me!?” Kansai shook his fist at the girl who set this trap, “When they find out where I am and see what’s going on, they’ll give ya’ Hell!!”

Runa simply giggled, “Oh, you really don’t know what Hell is… Now, if everybody is done panicking and crying or whatever, please have a seat so I can finally get down to the rules of the game and how this’ll work, ‘kay?”

Toby was the first to go ahead and sit down back in his seat, making sure that Yuri wasn’t the only one at the table anymore. Norman found himself frozen, and yet surprised to see as the others, although both hesitantly and reluctantly, made it back to their seat as well. The only person who hadn’t done so, other than himself, was Onion, continuing to sound alarms of distress as the white-haired boy carried her.

Frozen by facts, Norman looked up at Rei. He didn’t know why. Maybe he was aching for at least a little bit of sympathy. The butler gave no such signs, simply glancing his gaze away from the other. That said it all; he was going to gain no pity here.

Shakily taking a deep breath, Norman managed to get up, holding Onion’s hand gently, “Alright, we gotta get back to our seats, okay?”

Onion sniffled, “P-Please… don’t go…”

Norman gave her a sad smile, “Don’t worry, I’m just a seat away. I promise, I’ll make sure that you’re okay.”

Onion hesitated, sniffling again, “O-Okay…”

Norman felt a bit bad as he got Onion back to her seat. Even if they were really only a seat away, he hated seeing the little girl so scared and feeling so alone. Seeing little kids in distress really bothered him, as it weighed down on his conscience and made him feel like he was going to hurl. Yet, for now, there was nothing he could do about it.

“Now, lemme take the time to explain the rules!” Runa exclaimed, taking a few more licks of that lollipop of hers before speaking again, “Rule number one, and the most obvious one, only one person can win the cash prize! You can’t share the winner’s spot with anybody but yourself,. So, only you are the winner and there’s noooo changing that!”

“T-That’s because everyone else would already be dead at t-that point, right?” Tetsu asked, “You can’t give money to a dead p-person, after all…”

“That is very much a correct observation, Mr. Kageyama,” Rei said, “Even if there’s only two living people left, we won’t allow it.”

“Rule number two! Your turn will be officially counted only when you spin the barrel and pull the trigger!” Rune continued, “You can only spin the barrel up to three times, and any more will count as cheating!”

“My dear, what will happen if we’re caught cheating?” Victor asked.

“Weeell, first, you’ll get a warning and must retry your turn! However, if you’re caught cheating again, you’ll have to deal with more… fitting punishments.” Runa explained with a grin.

“F-Fitting punishments?” Toby repeated, “C-Can you elaborate on that?”

“Rule number three!” Runa ignored Toby’s question, “You cannot harm or attempt to harm the hosts of the game, so that would be Rei and I! Any attempt to do so will be punishable as well!”

Norman could tell why Runa would have such a rule in place. They all had access to this revolver, after all. At any time, they could attempt to kill their captors. But expecting them to follow such a rule made him think about it more. Were they just that trusting? No, that didn’t seem right. Perhaps it’s because of that punishment… Norman felt shivers go down his spin. What could that punishment be? Could it perhaps be–

“Rule number four!” Runa kept going, “Each round of this game may hold changes, add-ons, or other things to keep things interesting! Some may even have their own rules!”

“U-Um, Yomozuki?” Tetsu raised his hand a bit, orderly wanting to ask a question, “What counts as a round?”

“Well, to give you some perspective… a round usually ends after somebody gets shot! However, depending on the circumstances, we may wait until a second person gets shot until the round is over!” Runa stated.

“So it’s just as long as somebody dies…” Anatoly gulped.

“I can see why this change to the game was made.” Yuri admitted.

Victor frowned, “Change? What do you mean ‘change’?”

“In a normal game of Russian Roulette, it’s usually one against one, aka, a two-person game,” Yuri summarized, “But we have twenty-two people here, so rounds will be a lot harder to calculate.”

“Golly gee, you certainly do know a lot about this game!” Parsnip seemed to be in awe of the other’s morbid knowledge.

“And one final rule!” Runa exclaimed, “Harm against the other participants, unless other specific circumstances, is forbidden! We don’t want any serial killers in the making here! This is just a game!”

“What you said sounds so hypocritical…” Ann sighed.

“If you have any questions during the game, don’t be afraid to ask Rei and I! We’ll help supervise the game and make sure things run smoothly!” Runa’s hands ended up on her hips, “Is that understood? Good! Now this game can reaaalllyyyy begin!”

“Miss Yomozuki, you didn’t tell them what order they’ll have to go in.” Rei recalled, the revolver still in his hands. He seemed to be putting in another bullet in the deadly weapon’s chamber.

“Oh, right! Silly me!” Runa placed her hand on her cheek, acting childish and bashful for a moment, before looking around at the unwilling guests seated at the table. After a few moments, she suddenly pointed to Parsnip, “You!”

“Huh? Me?” Parsnip pointed at himself, tilting his head.

“You’ll start, and we’ll keep going to the next person to the left!” Runa declared, “So it would be Parsnip, Onion, Rokuro, Norman… And so on and so forth!”

“Y-You’re just going to let the youngest kid here go second?” Norman’s eyes widened at such a sickening prospect.

“Well, why not?” Runa asked, as if she saw nothing wrong with it, “I mean, it doesn’t matter if she was second or second-last, y’know? If she dies, she dies. If she lives, she lives. Such is the way of chance in a gamble like this!”

“May we begin now, Yomozuki?” Rei asked.

“Of course! Rei, give Parsnip the gun!” Runa commanded. Nodding in obedience, Rei handed the bunny person the gun.

Parsnip examined the gun curiously, “Wowie! I never was allowed to touch a gun before!”

“I don’t think most of us have,” Kat stated, crossing her arms, “Most of us are just kids, after all. Actually, I think there’s only two adults here.”

Victor chuckled, raising his hand up a bit, “Guilty as charged, I am an adult. Parsnip, dear, if you need help holding a gun, I know how to handle one.”

“P-Please, d-don’t hurt yourself…” Onion whimpered, looking up at the rabbit with teary eyes.

Parsnip gave a reassuring smile before giving Onion a gentle pat on the head. Then, he looked at the adult who had offered him help, “Don’t worry! I got this! All I need to do is turn this spinny thing and then pull the trigger, right? Sounds easy enough!”

Norman watched as the bunny spun the barrel of the revolver twice, making sure that it was clicked into place, before carefully aiming the weapon at his own head. Upon seeing the finger on the trigger, he instinctively squeezed his eyes shut. He metally prepared himself for a loud bang. A flash of light. A deafening noise.

…Click.

It was only the sound of an empty chamber that Norman heard.

Shaky sighs of relief could be heard all around. Certainly, everyone had just been as on edge as Norman was. Even if it had only been the first round, no doubt about it, he could tell one thing: everyone was expecting Parsnip to get shot already.

“Hey, that wasn’t so bad!” Parsnip cheerfully noted.

Anatoly muttered something, but wasn’t loud enough for Norman to hear. Then, the bunny carefully handed the dangerous gun to the young girl next to him.

Onion could barely hold the gun, as she also wanted to hold the bunny-onion plush at the same time. Her stubby hands fumbled with it, unable to hold it properly as she attempted to spin the barrel. It seemed like she wanted to spin the barrel twice, maybe even the maximum amount, but she could only spin it a measly first time. If she wasn’t struggling enough, she almost dropped the gun, her hands shaking as she awkwardly managed to place the revolver against her temple.

…Click.

Thankfully, the clicking of the empty chamber helped ease Norman up a little. At least she was safe, for now. He didn’t care that she might die later on; he just wished that the youngest of the group lived as long as possible.

Rokuro was up next. He took the revolver from the uneasy cookie’s hands, examining it curiously for a moment before instantly spinning it and putting it to his head.

“Are you not scared?” Toby asked.

Rokuro shrugged a bit, “The quicker I get it done, the better I’ll feel about it.”

Norman couldn’t tell if Rokuro really meant that, or was just lying to himself to prevent himself from panic. Either way, he was put at ease once again when he heard that empty clicking sound.

That is, until, the gun was placed in his hands.

For a moment, Norman could hear his heartbeat spike up, deafening all other noise. He had never held one like this before. The palm of his hand just fit uncomfortably against the grip. It felt so unnatural, as if this was never meant to be. Taking a shaky, forced deep breath, he allowed his jittering hand to spin the barrel. He was supposed to be calm. He was supposed to stay unfazed. To set a good example among everyone else…

But who was there really to set an example for? Most of these weren’t the little kids he was so used to; most were much older than him, if not the same age. This wasn’t about setting an example, though, it was about masking, wasn’t it? And yet, when his life was really threatened, he couldn’t do it. Was it just his response to his life being on an unpredictable chance? Or because he was now scared of death itself?

Click.

The noise snapped Norman out of his haze. His hands had moved on his own as he was pondering his own emotions. He could feel the steel firearm sightly brush away a section of his hair, the metal felt cold against his otherwise warm temple. In surprise, he slammed the revolver down in front of him, causing a small, yet sudden ruckus as silverware moved and teetered.

That allowed Miku to take the gun from him, however, she didn’t spin the barrel right away, “Already, this is getting way too intense. How about we take this a bit more casually?”

“Casually?” Victor perked an eyebrow, “You want to take a game of Russian Roulette more casually?”

Miku nodded before spinning the barrel ever so carefully, “Mhm. I mean, if we take this so tensely, it’ll just freak us out, right? So, it makes sense to just pretend like nothing is going on.”

“A-Are you crazy??” Anatoly asked, “How can anybody just pretend like nothing is going on??”

“It’s a coping mechanism. Sure, it’s flawed, but what else are we supposed to do?” Miku asked. After a few moments of no answers, she spoke again.

“Let me start on, maybe, a conversation topic. Learning more about each other, y’know? Like, what schools do you all go to?” Miku asked, the revolver going to her temple, “As an idol, I don’t go to any schools–”

Click.

“--So I’ve always wondered what kind of schools are out there.”

So that’s her plan, then? Norman thought, watching Miku as she handed the revolver to Kaya, Just take this calmly, so the tension doesn’t kill us before the gun does…

“I actually don’t go to any normal school myself..” Whipped Cream seemed wary as he watched Kaya with the gun, “I put most of my time in dance school.”

“Dance school? What kind of dances do you do?” Sara inquired.

“Ballet,” Whipped Cream answered, “It’s very relaxing, honestly. I love to do it.”

“I go to Yusei Junior High!” Rokuro grinned, as if the fear he had earlier had just been pushed away, “All of my classmates are, like, really weird though.”

“I’m homeschooled by my mom,” Frisk said, “Although, she is training to be a teacher right now.”

“I’m way out of school, my dears,” Victor chuckled, “I actually–”

Click.

“--Passed through college as well.”

The flow of the conversation continued, as Kaya passed the gun off to Toby. After her relief, Kaya said, “K-Kat and I go to the same s-school. We’re both i-in our school’s occult club.”

“Yeah, I did notice that your uniforms are the same!” Rokuro pointed out, “Other than you and the student council guys, you two seem to be the only ones who came from the same school!’

“Are you two friends?” Frisk asked.

“More or less.” Kat answered with a blunt tone.

“More or less? What kind of answer is that?” Rokuro slightly teased.

“Kat and I only actually m-met a few days ago,” Kaya admitted, “I o-only recently joined the occult club w-with two of my other friends, so..”

“She’s a newbie. I’m the vice president.” Kat finished.

Click.

The gun is passed to Frisk.

“I’m not in any clubs yet, but I have considered maybe joining the debate committee,” Sara confessed, “I go to Sonobeno High.”

“D-Debate sounds so scary…” Kaya admits, “S-So much conflict and d-disagreement… I don’t think I can handle it.”

“Indeed, debate seems like such a hassle. Are you sure you could handle it?” Peko inquired.

“Of course I can handle it,” Sara assured, “My friend says that I’m apparently pretty good at winning arguments and swaying people to my side.”

Click.

The gun is passed to Luke.

“Do you need help handling the gun?” Frisk asked.

Luke was nervously holding it in an awkward manner, just like how Norman was. With a nod, he allowed Frisk to carefully fit the gun in his hands and show him how to spin the barrel.

“You remind me of a good friend of mine that I currently live with.” Victor continued the conversation, “He happens to be a lawyer.”

“A-And w-w-what do you do, s-sir?” Luke spoke with a stutter, his hands shaking as he put the gun against his temple.

“Ah, I used to be an accountant,” Victor said, “However, the company I worked for shut down, so I’m sort of unemployed at the moment.”

Click.

Yuri is next with the gun. With no wait or hesitation, she spins the barrel and immediately puts it against her temple. Another click, and now it's with Whipped Cream.

“Unemployed? Is that why you live with your friend?” Whipped Cream asked, casually spinning the barrel.

“That, as well as a few other things, but we are living quite comfortably, I assure you.” Victor said.

“T-That sounds, um, n-nice…” Tetsu quietly piped up, glancing down at the ground, “I-I mean… Living w-with your friend… h-having a comfortable life…”

“Living with people sounds like a pain, honestly.” Miku huffed.

“A-Actually, t-there’s proof that i-it can improve your h-health…” Mikan stammered, “S-Strong, healthy r-relationships can s-strengthen your i-immune system, h-help you recover f-from diseases, a-and may even l-lengthen your l-life span…”

“R-Really?” Kaya’s eyes widened a bit, “T-That’s fascinating, a-actually..”

“Then let’s hope we all become friends here…” Luke muttered.

Click.

The gun went to Kansai.

Toby jittered slightly, “I-I actually l-live with a l-lot of people. We’re like a f-family.”

“It’s just my parents and my dog…” Kaya sighed, “I wish I had a friend to stay at my place… I don’t e-even really get to have any sleepovers.”

“I once stayed at a cabin with my friends. It was nice, although we almost got trapped by a storm,” Anatoly said, “We were scared for a bit, but we ended up being fine in the end.”

“I haven’t stayed with anybody, and I’m still fine.” Peko bluntly, and suddenly, stated matter-of-factly.

“For now.” Luke added on.

Click.

The gun was passed to Anatoly.

“What’s your squirrel’s name?” Frisk asked.

“Oh, this little guy?” Anatoly looked at his pet on his shoulder, which he affectionately scratched under the chin, “I actually don’t have a name for him yet. I’ve been thinking maybe Cashew or some sort of nut, though.”

“Where did you even get him?” Peko inquired, “It’s unusual for somebody to have a squirrel of all things as a pet.”

“Oh, um… It’s hard to explain,” Anatoly said, putting the revolver against his temple, “I did a lot of traveling in the past with my friends, and I sorta–”

Click.

“--C-Came across him one day and he wouldn’t leave, so I just decided to keep him. He’s actually very friendly.”

Anatoly then handed the gun to Victor, and his turn was just as swift as Yuri’s. A turn of a barrel, the place against the temple, a click, and then moving onto Mikan.

“H-He looks pretty cute,” Kaya smiled a bit, trying to actively ignore the clumsy girl with a gun, “I-I wish I had a pet squirrel now.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tree squirrel with somebody here in Japan,” Peko said, “If I ever do see a person with a pet squirrel in general, it’s usually a Japanese flying squirrel.”

“You don’t seem to be Japanese, actually,” Sai pointed out, “Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Ukraine, actually,” Anatoly hesitantly answered, “My friends and I from there before we came here to Japan.”

“That’s quite a far distance from here.” Yuri noted.

Anatoly nodded, “Yeah, it is. It took a long while, but we made it, y’know?”

Click.

“H-Here, miss Chidoiun, t-this for y–” Before Mikan could finish, she had tried to stand up and turn to Sara, but her foot got caught onto one of the chair legs. She suddenly tripped, crying out as Sara put her arms up to protect herself, only for Mikan to land right onto Sara’s chest, face-first.

“A-Are you both okay??” Sai gasped as Sara’s face turned red, as did Mikan’s as she tried to squirm away from Sara.

“Aaaaaaa, I’m s-so s-s-sorry!!” Mikan cried out, “I-I-I didn’t m-m-mean to fall onto you!!”

“I-It’s fine, but stop squirming, you’re just getting more into me!!” Sara exclaimed, finally managing to get the apologentic girl off of her and grab the gun.

“Man, I wish I was her right now.” Rokuro smirked.

Norman grabbed Rokuro’s ear and tugged on it a bit, slightly punishing Rokuro for saying such a vulgar thing.

“Ow ow ow, I was just joking, ow, let go–” Rokuro winced a bit before Norman let go of him. He put his hand to his ear, rubbing it, “Do you usually do that?”

“No, but I learned it from a friend.” Norman admitted. Indeed, he remembered when Ray would sometimes pull Emma by her ear when she did something bad. Usually, Norman would never do such a thing to his friends, but that felt more deserved than something Emma would do.

Click.

The gun was passed to Ann.

“I-I’m really soorryyyy…” Mikan whimpered, almost now crying from both embarrassment and guilt.

“Hey, it’s okay, don’t cry!” Tomoe exclaimed, “It’s not your fault that you tripped!”

“I-I’m so clumsyyyy…” Mikan continued to whimper, “Y-You must all h-h-hate meeee…”

“Who ever told you that?” Yuri asked.

“E-Everyone…” The fact that Mikan said that so matter-of-factly stuck Norman with a wave of pity.

“Well, I assure you, Tsumiki, we won’t hate you for something as silly as a trip.” Sai calmly assured her.

Mikan sniffled, “T-Thank you… T-That’s the nicest t-thing anybody has ever said to me…”

Click.

The gun was passed to Kat. Norman, being across from her, could see all of what she did. She spun the barrel twice, swearing under her breath before placing the gun against her temple. He found himself instinctively squeezing his eyes shut before he heard that reassuring clicking sound.

“What, you’re scared that my brain matter will splash all over you?” Kat teased him before handing the gun to Peko.

“That imagery is probably going to make me sick.” Kansai coughed a bit.

“Yeah, like, no need to be that gross.” Ann gagged.

“It was just a joke, guys, no need to be so sensitive.” Kat huffed.

“I-If it makes anybody feel any better, i-if somebody does g-get shot, there’s a f-five percent chance of somebody surviving..” Mikan stuttered.

“Mikan, I don’t think that makes anybody feel better…” Norman calmly said.

In response, the girl seemed to freak out again, “I-I’m sorry! I really thought t-that would!”

Click.

The gun was passed to Sai.

Tetsu stayed close to him, holding his hand as he looked up at the other, “P-Please be careful, Kageyama-san.”

“It’s okay, Tetsu-chan, I’ll be alright.” Sai assured, not letting go of the other’s hand as he carefully spun the barrel. The metal shined in contrast to his dark-colored hair as he put it to his temple. Tetsu visibly held his breath, tightening his grip.

Click.

“Oh, thank god…” Tetsu sighed in relief, loosening his grip as he was more or less forced to take the gun now.

Even so, Sai didn’t let go of the other’s hand this time, “You’ll be okay, Tetsu-chan. Just make it quick, and everything will be fine.”

Tetsu nodded, almost mimicking what the other had done just earlier. The barrel chattered a bit as it spun, making a final “clunk” when it stopped. The cyan male took a shaky breath before placing it against his temple, finger in on the trigger.

Click.

“See? I-I told you that you’d be okay..” Even if Sai was saying that, Norman could tell that he had been nervous. It seemed like the two were close, both of them praying that the other wasn’t unlucky enough to die. Such a vaguely familiar chemistry.

The final one at the table, Tomoe, resumed a calm conversation.

“So,” She began, hesitantly spinning the barrel, “Does anybody have anything important coming up?”

“I-I don’t think anybody d-does, considering that we’re here…” Tetsu confessed.

“Actually, I do, and it’s tomorrow,” Sara suddenly piped up, “Tomorrow, it’s me and my best friend’s anniversary.”

“Oh, really? You keep track of those things?” Luke tilted his head curiously.

“It’s weird, I know, but I owe it to him that I’m, well, who I am, I guess,” Sara glanced down at her silverware as she spoke, “His name is Joe. He’s really, really important to me. I wanted to see what he liked here, so I could maybe give him the best day I could tomorrow, but he had to leave early, so now I’m here.”

“W-Why did he h-have to leave early?” Mikan inquired.

“Ah, because of his new girlfriend. It’s no big deal, though.” Sara shrugged.

Toby laughed a bit, “It’s s-sorta funny though. If he was still here, I don’t think you would’ve signed up for th-this death trap!”

“I guess not, but who knows? Maybe if he was still here, we would’ve signed up together.” Sara seemed to a bit more upset talking about this.

Click.

“Oh, finally, it’s my turn!” Parsnip excitedly took the revolver from the girl, spinning it with a childish excitement before pointing it to his head. The click of an empty chamber could be heard, once again bringing relief, until the small cookie was handed the gun.

Once again, the scared-silent Onion had trouble with the gun. Just like her last turn, she just barely managed to turn the barrel.

“Hey, kid, you seem to be having trouble…” Rokuro noted, as if feeling a bit bad for the younger one. Then, he looked back at Rei and Runa, “Hey! Can I help her out by at least pointing it at her? She can barely do it on her own.”

“D-Doesn’t that go against the f-final rule?” Tetsu asked, “I-I mean, if you harm her–”

“I’m not going to harm her!” Rokuro was quick to object. Norman could tell that even he was scared of that notion himself. He didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t even want to consider it.

Runa hummed in thought before speaking, “Yeah, I guess you could! But only because we have a participant so young!”

“Thank you.” Rokuro looked back down at Onion before gently taking the gun from her. He gave her a sad, sympathetic smile, “Hey, don’t worry, I got this, okay? Just… Think about this as me taking your picture, okay?”

“T-Taking… m-my picture…?” Onion sniffled, holding that doll of hers close to her chest.

“Yeah! So give me a biiiig smile so I can get the best sho- p-picture of you, okay?” Rokuro asked, carefully pointing the gun at Onion’s temple.

“I… I-I can’t…” Onion hiccuped.

“Aw, why not?”

“W-What if… w-what if you h-hurt me..?”

“I won’t hurt you.”

Onion glanced up at the other, “P…Promise…?”

Rokuro nodded, an optimistic grin on his face, “I promise!”

Norman found himself smiling a bit. He felt happy that Rokuro wanted to at least attempt to soothe the girl. Even if Rokuro didn’t seem too good with kids, he was at least trying, which he found himself appreciating.

“Now, give me a biiiig smile and say ‘cheese!’” Rokuro said, showing a huge grin of his own giving the girl an example. His finger carefully made his way onto the trigger.

Onion seemed to hesitate, but after a few moments, she managed to give Rokuro her best smile as she held her doll close. The smile warmed Norman’s heart. It was the first time he had ever seen her smile, so he felt as if this was a special moment.

“Cheeee–”

BANG.

Norman’s ears suddenly rang, his vision having gone white for a moment. What… What was that sound? It… it couldn’t have been what he thought it was, right?

But his vision was greeted with something else before his ears were. The young girl, Onion, who he had just been holding close a few minutes earlier… now, the cookie was slumped in her chair, a part of her head having been blown off by a chunk. Crumbs scattered across the ground, and a purplish pink goo was all around her head. It had splattered all over the chair, table, and even the unfortunate souls of Parsnip and Rokuro.

His ears couldn’t stop ringing. He could hear the faint screams and sudden cries from the people around him. His eyes were stuck on the lifeless child’s body. His fears had come to life within just a few seconds. His vision blurred, feeling a salty liquid begin to leak from his eyes.

When the ringing slowly began to die down, it was Rokuro’s voice that he heard first:

“O…Onion..?”

Chapter Text

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Kansai screamed, shooting out of his chair along with a few others, screams and crying ringing throughout the room after the blast. Norman was rooted in place, staring in horror. This couldn’t be real. It can’t be real. Onion couldn’t be… shouldn't be…

But she was dead.

“Onion…? O-Onion… Onion…” Norman could see Rokuro shaking, his hands shivering bad enough that he dropped the revolver. It seemed that even when covered in Onion’s blood, he was in the same disbelief that as Norman, “O-Onion… s-say something… no… this… this is a… j-joke… r…right..?”

“W-What is wrong with you!?” Tomoe cried out, tears streaming down her face, “You– You killed her!!”

“I… I didn’t mean to–” Rokuro began to hyperventilate, “I– I didn’t– O-Onion–”

“I’m going to be fucking sick–” Kat covered her mouth with her fist, turning away from the body near parallel from her. She raced over to a corner of the room, and Norman could only hear her stomach spilling out of her.

“Oh my Vanilla, her blood is everywhere…” Whipped Cream coughed, as if trying to hold back the urge to vomit as well.

Parsnip took a bit of the blood off of him, and in a shocking twist of events, put it in his mouth, “...Jam!”

“That’s fucking– gnh– disgusting!!” Kat shouted from her corner of the room.

“I’m being serious! This is jam!” Parsnip exclaimed.

“Well, of course it’s jam, we’re cookies!” Whipped Cream explained, exasperated, “We don’t have blood like you guys! That is our blood!”

“You killed her!! You killed a small child!!” Tomoe continued to scream at Rokuro, sobbing as she gasped for air.

“It– It wasn’t his fault!” Sai shakily stood up, eyes avoiding from the small child’s body, “He didn’t know, none of us knew!”

“He’s the one who held the gun!” Kat objected, wiping bile from her mouth and onto her sleeve.

“I… I… Oh my god… I-I’m…” Rokuro curled himself up a bit, tears streaming down his face as his hands went up to his head, holding them over his ears as if to try to block out all the screaming and crying, “I… I d-didn’t…”

“He only held the gun to help her!” Sai argued, “It’s– This isn’t anybody’s fault! It’s– It’s–”

Suddenly, a new sound rang out. It was the sound of idle clapping, as if there was some sort of victory that was to be gained. From those still sobbing to those who were trying not to throw a fit of despair, all eyes landed on the one who dared to applaud the chaos that was swirling around them.

To Norman’s horror, it belonged to Runa.

“Wooooow! I’m impressed! Usually, by some miracle, the little kid would’ve been one of the few survivors or be killed by somebody cruel and heartless!” Runa giggled, which sent chills down Norman’s spine, “Oh, well! What can you do about it, y’know? Such as the game of Russian Roulette!”

“You’re… You’re sick!” Anatoly stared at the girl in horror, “A little girl just died and you’re… you’re fucking laughing!”

“Y-You! You’re the reason she’s dead!” Sai stood up, a burning anger in this stare, “You’re the reason Onion lost her life!”

“K-Kamiya-san!” Tetsu stood up with him, and although fear still stayed in his eyes, Norman could tell that the reasoning had changed, “P-Please! There’s nothing w-we can do about this–”

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to sit down.” Rei calmly walks over to Sai, only for Sai to suddenly grab Rei’s black tie, jerking him forward so the two can be face-to-face.

“You… How can you be so complacent in this!?” Sai questioned, “How can you be so calm!? How can you not even feel any ounce of condolence!? This is sickening!! You both are sickening!!”

The air was tense and still. The two only stared at each other, each look contrasting the other. One male had the calmness of the sea, and the other had the fury of a blaze.

But like water, it can douse flames with ease. Rei gently placed his hand on Sai’s chin, carefully lifting the other’s head up a bit as Rei leaned in. Whispers from the butler ensued, but Norman couldn’t tell what the butler said. Then, Rei leaned back into his stance. While that fire was still there, it wasn’t as large as it was before.

“Perhaps you and I aren't that different after all.” Rei simply ended, bowing respectfully before starting to walk away.

“K-Kamiya-san, are you okay?” Tetsu went to his friend’s side, one more putting his hands on his arm.

“...Tch. I’m fine, Tetsu-chan…” Sai said, looking to the side, “I’m just… I hate cowards like him.”

Coward? Norman looked over at Rei, who calmly went to Runa’s side. Runa motioned to the iron door, with Rei bowing afterwards before going to the door. It opened automatically, the peering darkness returning as the butler walked inside.

“W-What… what are we going to do…?” Kaya asked, her voice quiet and shaky.

“Simple,” Yuri said, “We continue playing.”

“A-Are you fucking mental!?” Rokuro suddenly yelled, “A– A little girl just got killed!!”

“And grieving isn’t going to do anything,” Yuri stayed calm, possibly one of the only few who could do so, “The game is all about death. So, there’s going to be death. It doesn’t matter who dies. It only matters who lives.”

“B-But… B-But how can we just… j-just play a-after that?” Kaya asked.

“Oh, if you’re worried about the body, Rei is going to take care of it!” Runa said that with such a cheery nature, it was disturbing. On cue, Rei walked out, a small trolley being wheeled by him as he headed to Onion’s chair.

“You’re… you’re getting rid of the body, a-aren’t you?” Toby eyed the trolley, along with some of the others.

Norman’s sick feeling turned into anger. Were they just going to throw Onion out like garbage? As if she wasn’t a living, breathing creature before, now she was just going to be wheeled off to god knows where? After all that? After all…

Connie.

Norman froze for a moment as the memory practically crashed into his mind. Her smile. Her doll. Her dead body. He recalled it all. Connie, the one he considered a little sister… murdered so viciously. A life sold off to monsters, and he had to bear witness to her corpse.

She’s… She’s just like…

Norman found himself jumping out of his seat, his mind racing as he stood in front of Onion’s chair, blocking the trolley from its path. Rei looked up at the boy, and Norman could see the look of surprise on his face.

“Norman, what are you doing?” Miku asked, but Norman ignored her.

“P..Promise me you won’t throw her away!” The white-haired boy found himself begging, “P-Promise me that you’ll treat her like an actual being rather than an item!!”

“Y-You’re not proposing we keep the corpse, are you?” Luke quickly covered his mouth at the thought of it.

“I… I just…” Norman clenched his fists, shaking a bit as he wavered, “Bodies… s-shouldn’t be treated like trash… Onion shouldn’t be treated like trash..!!”

Rei continued to stare at him in silence. It felt like an eternity until the butler spoke again, “Perhaps disposing of her in such a crude manner would be.. Immoral.”

“Do you really have sympathy for the victim, or do you have sympathy for the game?” Peko gave the uniformed male a glare, crossing her arms as she did so, “Besides, how can you be so calm about this, anyway? Being yelled at and not even flinching, nor reacting when being grabbed at, and yet being surprised when somebody stops you from your duties… You almost seem trained.”

Rei seemed to ignore everything but her first question, “Mm. Sympathy? No. No, this isn’t sympathy. No, no, this is something else.”

“And that is?” Yuri practically forced him to elaborate. 

Rei paused for a moment before looking Norman in the eyes. The boy could see the full extent of dullness in what was meant to be a vibrant gaze. But unlike Onion, he had a different type of lifelessness. It was like looking into an old crab shell or a crushed toy. His eyes had similarities to the room he had just come from; dark and peering,

“This–” He calmly declared, “–is pity.”

Pity? Was that all Rei felt? A simple pity? It wasn’t even towards Onion, was it? No. No, it was towards him . The way Rei kept eye contact said that much. The butler was as cruel as the host, and perhaps even crueler.

Rei walked past Norman, gently pushing him to the side. The boy knew he couldn’t do anything to stop the butler as he carefully picked up the small cookie. She was so limp in his arms. It was disheartening. Being surprisingly gentle for somebody who didn’t care, he set the girl onto the trolley, giving Norman one last glance before rolling her away. Norman reached out a hand for her, but he knew it was in vain as the two of them disappeared into the darkness and the door closed.

“I… I wanna go home…” Kansai was crying, sniffling and looking down at the ground.

“I don’t think most of us will be able to go home after this…” Frisk mumbled quietly, “But that’s why we have to all try our best–”

“But ‘doing our best’ means we’ll all really be up against each other!” Luke exclaimed. Silence settled on them all once again. That was something nobody wanted to come in terms with.

“Aww, are you all scared about a little sabotage?” Runa asked, mocking everyone’s fear of it all.

“But… But cheating is against the rules, isn’t it?” Norman recalled, “Sabotage is cheating, so… w-we can’t do anything like that, right?”

“Somebody can try and attempt to get away with it…” Sara claimed, “Although, it’ll hold more risk than reward. You need to make sure you’re not caught first.”

“Nobody is going to do it then,” Sai stated, “We will all play fairly and… and do our best.”

“Wooow, all of you are so chummy. Even in a game where you could get shot at any turn, and you still all want to trust each other?” Runa tilted her head to the side before grinning, “You all are really desperate, aren’t you?”

Runa’s right. Norman thought. But desperation is all we have.

“...Do we just.. Continue?” Frisk then asked, looking back at the mocking Runa.

“I mean, like, duh! Not like you’ll have much choice!” Runa teased, almost light-heartedly, before walking over to Rokuro’s seat. The revolver still stayed on the ground, and despite all the chaos that had occurred before, she picked it up ever so casually before putting it right on Rokuro’s empty plate. Then, she reached over to the tray still close to Tomoe and collected a bullet before placing that on the plate as well. A signal to reload it, perhaps.

“We’re going to just continue the game? No start overs? No retries?” Parsnip asked, almost a bit bewildered despite his semi-optimistic nature.

“And continuing with him..?” Whipped Cream’s gaze was latched onto the blue-haired boy that was next to Norman. The boy still had salty tears drip his cheeks, shaking and shivering as his breathing was nothing more than uneven gasping for air. Of course Rokuro was a mess; he had just killed–

No, killed is too strong of a word. Rokuro didn’t mean to hurt her. He just wanted to help. Perhaps, he wanted the slight connection Norman had gotten with her with their few minutes together. But that was ruined now. Utterly destroyed. It wasn’t murder then, was it?

With little to no choice, Norman saw Rokuro shakily put his hand out and grab the revolver. His other hand was hesitant, but almost as if he forced himself, he also took the bullet, opening the barrel before sliding the bullet into one of the now empty slots.

“W..Why can’t we skip him?” Kansai asked, his face expressing a sort of pity or concern for the shaken male that was all the way across from him, “I mean, surely, that should be okay–”

“Nope! Can’t do that! Rokuro must play his turn like everyoooone else!” Runa stated, still standing over Rokuro, splitting him off from Norman, standing in the middle of their chairs. Rokuro himself almost seemed surprised at the lack of special treatment, as if that was the smallest thing Runa could’ve done after what had happened.

“But he just…” Sara spoke up, but her voice trailed off upon seeing the look on Runa’s face. She was smiling with a corrupted innocence. She was determined for Rokuro to keep going.

Gently, her hand was placed on top of Rokuro’s, suddenly jerking up, so the cold metal piece touched against his forehead. His breathing hitched, frozen up with now heavy, almost fearful breathing as his glazed eyes glanced at Runa. Norman can hear the barrel of the gun slowly turn with a few clicks as Runa’s finger spun it for the poor boy right next to him. Norman could only feel sicker as the girl guided Rokuro’s finger onto the trigger.

“Go on, Kuro. Pull the trigger, won’t you?” Runa cooed, that faux-comfort grin and beady eyes locked onto the shaken boy, “Just do it. Do it. Do it!”

Click.

The trigger had been pulled, and yet the click emptied itself through the room. Empty. 

Rokuro wrestled the gun away from Runa, slamming the revolver down in front of Norman in a panic before starting to break down once again. Runa simply clapped her hands, grinning, “Awww, now, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Nyahaha!”

“T-That w-w-was just c-cruel!” Toby stuttered out, his neck jerking to the side slightly.

Parsnip looked down at the floor, ears perking down only a little bit, “Well.. She was just only trying to help, right? So it wasn’t that cru-”

“The boy is traumatized!” Anatoly snapped at the bunny, slamming his hands onto the table as he stood. Silence other than crying settled in the room. After a few moments, he shakily sighed before sitting back down, “...Let’s just… c-continue… okay?”

Norman gulped, but that didn’t ease anything in his throat as he picked up the gun, spinning the barrel around three times until it clicked into place. He could feel his heartbeat jump around in his head, echoing through every chamber it had to offer. His hand was shaking as he awkwardly placed it to his head. It felt like if the gun did go off, it would tear everything up to pieces. It didn’t matter if it only hit his head. He felt like every ounce of his flesh would be turned to mush. Ground up into the food he desperately tried not to be.

Click.

Relief rushed through his body, but a light-headedness shallowly attempted to overshadow his anxiety as he placed the gun next to Miku. His adrenaline wasn’t so used to spiking up so suddenly. His vision blurred for only a moment, but he couldn’t tell if that was because of how sick he felt or just from tears wanting to escape from his eyes.

“Not so keen on speaking now, are you?” Runa said, a bitter mocking tone as she went away from the table, spinning herself around in a childish, sickeningly playful manner.

“What is there to talk about after all… that?” Parsnip was careful on what to say.

“I don’t think there is anything..” Anatoly looked away, as if unable to look at Parsnip or the general area of where it all went down.

Victor visibly frowned, “That poor kid… Her parents will be devastated.”

“Th-That’s it! Her parents! Our family!” Kansai blurted out, “W-When they hear about this, they’re gonna kick your ass, Runa!! Mark my words!!”

“That’s assuming our parents know that we’re dead because of all this.” Kat stated, breaking that hopeful delusion instantly.

“K-Kat!” Kaya said her name in a surprised, yet shy manner.

“Am I wrong? We don’t know what these creeps do to bodies or blood or anything! If we all die, who’s to say that our parents will even think that we’re dead?” Kat continued on.

“H-Have at least a little bit of optimism!” Luke piped up, “W-We don’t know that, s-so… s-so there’s still a good chance that police w-will figure these things out!”

Click.

Quietly, the gun was passed to Kaya.

“D-Do you think our friends are worried about us already?” Tomoe asked quietly, as if scared to actually get some sort of answer.

“It depends on how long it’s been,” Yuri stated, looking for something in her bag. It was a piece of gum that was carefully placed in the wrapper. Ever-so-casually, she put the piece in her mouth, “Anybody have a watch?”

Everyone looked around at each other, however, that idea was quickly cast aside as nobody had such a thing on their person. Norman’s eyes scanned the room, and although he saw a clock in the room, it didn’t tick or move, always stuck on 12:35pm. 

It was early in the morning when we arrived. He thought, Why is the clock set so late, and why is it stuck?

“I’m sure eventually somebody will try and look for us,” Sai stated, “I doubt anybody would want to leave us behind, correct?”

“Don’t get your hopes up. Some of us came alone.” Yuri put it bluntly, blowing up the whitish pink bubble before making it pop.

“Did you come alone, Yuri?” Tomoe asked. After Yuri nodded, Tomoe spoke once more, “D-Don’t worry! We still have a majority, right?”

“I do believe so. Even if a few of us came by ourselves, there’s more than likely still enough people to get worried about us and to look around! They’ll know that something is up, I’m sure of it.” Whipped Cream agreed.

Click.

The gun was passed to Tobias.

As the conversation continued, Norman heard footsteps as Rei had returned. The metal door closed behind him, and the butler calmly stood by the door once again, that calm, empty-eyed stare still on his face.

“If any harm comes to me, I know a few people who will not be happy with that.” Peko said calmly.

“And who might that be?” Yuri asked, giving Peko a slightly doubtful look.

“I am not allowed to tell you.” Peko gave Yuri a bit of an aggressive glare back.

“Then I don’t believe that. Pretending that you’re protected by something big won’t work here.” Yuri responded, blowing up and popping another bubble.

“But what if she really does?” Frisk asked.

“Then they wouldn’t be after me. Either I’ll be dead or she will.”

“You don’t have to say that so casually!” Tomoe exclaimed, “Besides, n-nobody else is going to die, right?”

Nobody had an answer.

“..y-yeah. Let’s just, um… keep telling ourselves that…” Kaya gulped, looking away and unable to look Tomoe in the eye.

Click.

The weapon moved to Frisk.

“Nyahaha! Watching you all squirm now is such a lovely sight!” Runa cheered, hopping up and down in place, “And before this, you were all angry and scared, but the moment you were faced with consequences and the risk of death, you all became like scared little puppies!”

“I still think we’ll be saved,” Frisk made sure that their voice was heard, “I’m not giving up on that.”

“It’s better to have hope than give in so easily, even if a life is lost…” Whipped Cream agreed, “However, death is still quite… demotivating…”

“Oh, Onion… you poor girl… I’ll make a song in your honor when I get out of here…” Miku sighed, placing her hands together in sympathy.

“A song w-won’t bring her back…” Norman could hear Rokuro mumble. Although hesitant at first, he gently patted the blue-haired boy’s back. Rokuro glanced up at Norman, mouthing a “thanks” before glancing away.

“...You know, something about all this has been bothering me.” Victor finally piped up.

“Eh? What do you mean?” Kat placed her elbow on the table, resting her hand on her chin as she looked at the prosthetic-filled male.

“I don’t know, it’s just… something about this situation feels… familiar…” Victor stroked his small goatee as he tried to think.

“Familiar? As in you’ve been in Russian Roulette before or?” Kat ushered him to continue.

Reluctantly, Victor complied in response, “No, no… more like heard about a situation like this somewhere… a group of mixed kids and adults, mostly teens and tweens, stuck inside a game of risk… I can’t recall what I’m thinking about in full though…”

“T-The thought o-o-of this happening b-b-before s-s-somewhere s-s-sounds, u-um, terrifying…” Mikan stammered out in her usual quiet tone.

“Well, like, no duh!” Ann crossed her arms, “Anything like this no matter what is terrifying!”

“Well, Mr. Blake, if you remember anything else, let us know, alright?” Whipped Cream asked. Victor nodded in response.

Click.

The gun was passed to Luke.

“Excuse me, Miss Runa?” Frisk looked back at the girl in her chair, “How long will this game last?”

“Until only one person is left, of course!” Runa spoke cheerfully.

“So… that means only the winner gets to leave then? Only them?” Anatoly inquired as he nervously fixed his glasses.

“We’ll see about that.” Runa vaguely answered, implying she had a few things up her sleeve. That didn’t sit well with Norman.

“W-What’s that supposed to…” Tetsu’s voice trailed off, perhaps from sheer nervousness. Or perhaps from not wanting to know the answer. Norman couldn’t tell, and a part of him didn’t want to know.

After a few moments of silence, Norman gathered the courage to speak up, “Runa, what would happen if we ran out of bullets?”

“Hmmm?” Runa tilted her head, “Why would you ask such a question?”

“I’m just c-curious, t-that’s all..” A nervous lie. “W-What would happen if… if they ran out? W-Would the game end?”

“I don’t believe running out of bullets is possible,” Rei said, “I personally made sure that there were enough bullets for everyone, as well as quite a few extra. If we do run out, however, it’ll be a predicament.”

“Don’t get any ideas, though!” Runa exclaimed, “Hiding away a bullet or throwing it away will count as cheating! So I suggest that you don’t try anything to sabotage it in your favor!”

“How about we accidentally drop one or the bullet accidentally comes out of the barrel?” Peko asked.

“Those won’t count, although you’ll have to let the butler help you out with that, or else we’ll suspect foul play!” Runa explained, a cheery note stuck in her voice.

Click.

The gun was passed to Yuri.

“Actually, why do you have a butler anyways?” Kat stared at Rei with a suspicious glare, “Does this school seriously hire butlers?”

“Rei’s a special case, actually!” Runa answered, putting her finger up as if she was making some sort of important statement, “He specifically works for the student council, and thus, gets passed around to every member as they please! I basically rented him out for today!”

“Rent? Rei gets paid to do this??” Kansai’s eyes widened.

Runa giggled, shaking her head, “Nah! Rei doesn’t get paid, like, ever! Isn’t that right, Rei?”

Rei gave no response. In fact, Norman could see that his glance had wandered over to-

Click.

Yuri went to place the gun down next to Whipped Cream, only for the butler to swiftly come over, grabbing her wrist almost instantly before she could place it down. It caught the girl, for once, off-guard. The two locked gazes for a moment, which Norman could catch a glimpse of.

Norman’s heart stopped upon seeing Rei’s expression. Why does he look so… so mad?

“H-Hey, w-what’s the big idea?” Toby asked, shifting in his seat a little as he watched.

“I-Is something wrong?” Kaya asked, a bit of fear in her voice.

Rei didn’t say anything for a moment before ripping the gun from Yuri’s hands and starting to open the barrel.

“N-No, wait, don’t–” Yuri couldn’t get her words out before the barrel slid open, but not all the way. Unfortunately, it had been slightly stuck or jammed by a sticky whitish pink substance.

“..Cheating is against the rules, Miss Honjo.” Rei huffed, taking the towel on his arm and slightly spitting on it to dampen it before making attempts to remove the substance from the silver revolver.

Her gum.

It clicked in Norman’s mind. Yuri had used her gum that she was chewing earlier to jam up the weapon a bit. After all, nobody had seen her spin the gun, right? Everyone was distracted with the current conversation. But why? He thought. That wouldn’t do her any good, right? Unless…

“If that barrel was spun, the gum wouldn’t reveal itself and completely mess the revolver up,” Peko continued his thoughts out loud, “Not only would Whipped Cream get in trouble for that, it would’ve delayed the game if another revolver was not provided.”

“B-But that would have Whipped Cream killed, right?” Parsnip asked.

“Wh-Why would you do that!?” Sai exclaimed, almost yelling at the girl, “I thought we all agreed that we’d play fairly!!”

“I was trying to help all of you, dumbass!” Yuri suddenly snapped back, possibly because the consequences of her actions were starting to seep into her mind, “So what if it caused a little death? It would've given us fucking time until help arrived!”

“B-But you’re gonna get killed!” Mikan gasped, tearing up already.

“Well, I wasn’t supposed to!” Yuri snapped again, this time at the nurse, who yelped out and shrunk in fear, stuttering out apology after apology.

“My dear… you have made a terrible mistake…” Victor shook his head softly.

“Wh-What did I ever do to you!?” Whipped Cream asked, anger and fear spilling out like a cracking dam as he stared at the girl.

“Some sacrifices have to be made, okay!?” Yuri exclaimed before a few tears finally escaped her eyes, “S..Some sarifices… a-are necessary…”

“And some, in my opinion, are stupid.” Rei stated firmly, looking at the substance now on the towel with slight disdain. Runa seemed to have found herself giggling.

“Uh ohhh, looks like Rei is mad~! He hates getting his towel all sticky!” Runa spoke in a sing-songy voice, “Now, you’re gonna get punished for being a dirty little cheater!”

“W-Wait! Have a little mercy, please!” Sai loudly begged, standing up from his seat, “S-She was just trying to help all of us, so, p-please! G-Give her another chance!”

“Cheaters never deserve second chances.” Rei bluntly stated with a surprising amount of conviction. The lifeless shell just a bit earlier had now become a flame of anger. A lantern holding the flame that has yet to be burnt out. He placed the revolver down in front of Whipped Cream before taking a few brisk steps away.

Yuri became desperate, trying to turn around to look at the male, “P-Please! I-I promise, I won’t do it again, I-”

“Don’t. Move.” Rei demanded, although he did sound much calmer than before. He took a deep breath, composing himself a bit more, “Face forward. Don’t look back. Take your punishment or else I will do something much worse.”

Yuri paused for a moment before starting to break down into sobbing, forcing herself to face forward at the poor baseball player across from him, who held his hand over his mouth in shock. Everyone else either watched or horror or began to beg Rei to spare her, but Norman saw it so clearly: Rei didn’t care and Yuri had accepted her sad, fearful fate.

Of course, Norman was still scared- no, more than scared. He was terrified. His breathing hitched as he watched Rei carefully take something out from inside his red blazer. The light reflected something golden as he revealed it from his body. It was all going on so suddenly. So fast. Norman heard the begging turned into screams within moments. The golden color was too bright from the lights, but at the last moment, Norman could finally recognize the quick silhouette of a revolv–

BANG!

–ver…

More screams and cries rang throughout the room as Norman watched the front of Yuri’s head suddenly burst in a bloody red, bits and pieces spraying out onto the table before her body slumped down, her face slamming into the plate in front of her. Kansai had ducked down right before the trigger was pulled, not only avoiding the spray of gore, but the bullet that had been fired through her, which hit the wall behind where he sat.

However, those around that area were not as lucky. Crimson could easily stain the clothes and bodies of living people around. The smell of iron was sickening as it poisoned the air with its stench, making Norman’s stomach twist and knot up into an abomination. In an instant, he fell ill, covering his mouth despite feeling as if it was going to come up and out of his throat at any moment.

Unlike jam, this smell was all too familiar. He could practically see it again. The bodies. The losses. The death and risk and near failure. His head strung with white noise and pain, an overwhelming sense of deep-seated fear and paranoia washing over his body, as if being crushed by the sudden pressure.

But he could say nothing as he sat and stared in horror, watching the pool of blood only grow more across the table, the dark red liquid slowly dripping down the side of the table. No doubt about it, another girl was down and dead.

“--Killed her!!” 

Norman slightly began to focus once again when he heard Anatoly’s last few words. That’s… That’s right. Rei killed her. Rei murdered Yuri.

“H-How could you do that so brutally!?” Luke shouted, tears streaming down his face, already starting to wash off some of the blood that had splattered onto him, “Don’t you have any shame!? Why did you kill her!?”

Calmly, Rei wiped a bit of the blood off with his hand before carefully placing the golden-coated weapon back in the pocket in his blazer. He was back to being the empty shell of a human being he was before. With an unwavering expression, he merely glanced at Luke.

“Cheaters will always prosper unless you tear them down.” Was all he gave as an answer before starting to walk to the metal door, presumably to get the cart and collect the body, and hopefully clean up everything as well. That’s it? Norman thought. Not an apology? Not an expression of pity now? Only that…?

“W-WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU GODDAMN BITCH!?” Kat screamed, standing up and starting to walk over with clenched fists. Quickly, people grabbed at her to hold her back, as she squirmed and shouted and cried at the butler and his accomplice, “I’LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!! YOU HEAR ME, YOU SONS OF BITCHES!? I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU FOR MAKING US GO THROUGH THIS GODDAMN SHIT!!”

“Don’t c-c-come out from under there, Kansai, d-d-don’t c-c-come out u-unless we t-tell you too–” Anatoly had gotten up from his seat and kneeled down to where Kansai was, and since Norman couldn’t see Kansai, he assumed that he was hiding under the table.

“Y-Yuri… Oh, Heaven above, Yuri…” Luke sobbed, desperately trying to wipe his tears away, only to smear more blood across his face.

Norman hugged himself, not wanting to look at the body anymore, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of it. He could see Whipped Cream at the end there, still wearing a shocked and horrified expression, as if he couldn’t comprehend completely of what happened to one who just tried to have him killed just moments before. Norman couldn’t blame the cookie. He wouldn’t have known how to feel, either.

“Second one down! Nineteen left to go!” Runa interrupted all the crying and screaming with another sickening sound: applause. She had that cruel look on her face, the one Norman only now realized that she flashed way too often, and she showed no ounce of sympathy in her demeanor. This was all one game for her, and she wasn’t afraid to flaunt it off, like some sort of grand trophy.

“I… I-I can’t believe this…” Sara seethed, her teeth clenched as she gave Runa a nasty glare.

“FUCK YOU!! FUCK YOU AND ALL OF THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT!!” Kat continued to yell, but it was now just directed at the girl who sat away from it all with a smile.

Suddenly, Norman could feel the sense of being touched. He flinched harshly, only to realize that it had come from a friend who was in distress earlier in the round. Rokuro looked at him with shaken, sympathetic eyes. It was the sympathy Norman wanted to see over this death. Norman’s vision blurred with tears, feeling the cool, salty droplets of fluid finally break through.

“We’re… gonna be here… f-for a while…” Rokuro quietly sniffled before leaning closer to whisper, “The quicker this goes… the f-faster somebody can get out of here, y-yeah? T-The more we grieve… the more t-time we’re wasting…”

Norman’s eyes widened for a moment, but before he could speak, Rokuro quickly put his finger on his lips to shush him up, continuing, “I know, i-it’s weird and psychopathic, but think about it… see how much joy she gets from seeing u-us suffer… she wants this… she wants to b-be entertained by o-our suffering…”

A shiver went down his spine when Norman heard that. The thought of somebody being so sadistic and cruel to be entertained by all the screaming… all the crying… all the grief and illness and fear… And the worst part of it all, it made sense. The way Runa smiled and laughed, the way she forced the game to go on, the way she so casually loved to see every drop of blood escape a person thus far… It was more than normal sadism in Runa’s eyes. It was like she was the Devil in disguise.

After a few moments, Norman shakily nodded, finally understanding where Rokuro was coming from. Perhaps, and just perhaps, if nobody gave Runa that pleasure of fear… that enjoyment of panic and tears… maybe she would let them all go. It was a new, weakened hope to hold onto. After all, what else was really left other than the waiting game, which was quickly failing fast? For now, this would be the only other strategy to survive.

The metal door opened once again, the cart from earlier making its grand return. Jam and crumbs still covered the cart from the last body wheeled out. The only difference on this cart was that there were a few cleaning supplies near the back of it. Rei, as professional and calm as can be, wheeled it over to Yuri’s chair before ever so-carefully picking up Yuri’s body. The blood that dripped down from her head landed right onto his uniform, but he didn’t seem to mind as he placed her down on the cart. Then, he picked up the various cleaning supplies, moving them close to the table before starting the clean-up process. All small bits of gore splattered onto the table, every puddle of blood that stained the tablecloth, his mission seemed to have been to clean it all up. However, no assistance was given to those splattered by her remains.

“How can one clean all of that up so casually..?” Miku asked quietly, but it’s obvious that the question was merely a rhetorical one.

Even so, Norman found himself answering, “It’s because he doesn’t care about us… this is probably just another job for him.”

To the boy’s surprise, he saw the butler stop for a moment. Their gazes met for a few seconds as the butler glanced his way. A sense of dread fell upon Norman’s shoulders until the butler focused back on his horrifying work.

“I.. I-I don’t want to sit here anymore…” Luke gulped, putting a hand on his mouth as some sort of attempt to not show how sick he was.

Norman glanced back at Runa, who stood near the back. Still, she had that excited look on her face, watching Rei do his bloody work. Rokuro says that the lack of reaction will help us… Norman thought, biting the bottom of his lip in hopes that the slight pain could stop the remaining rogue tears. But she seems so content with a body being cleaned up… unless it’s an act. I can’t tell. I didn’t think I would have to.

After a few more minutes, Rei placed the cleaning supplied back onto the cart. Without a word, he took the handle of the cart and carefully wheeled it back to the dark room, the metal door closing behind him. The table and area wasn’t completely clean, but it was definitely less noticeable that a body had been there a few moments earlier.

“O-Okay… You can come back up…” Anatoly said quietly, helping the shaken Kansai get up and back onto his seat. It’s obvious that even seeing such a tame crime scene made the smaller boy sick. It could’ve been much worse of a sight, though. Everyone else knew that all too well. Norman, admittedly, almost envied Kansai a bit.

“W-We… we have to c-continue now, don’t w-we?” Mikan asked, her nervous and meek gaze landing onto Runa.

Runa eagerly nodded, “Well, duh! What else are you going to do? Stand around and mope forever? C’mon, c’mon! Let’s keep this round going!”

Whipped Cream, considering he was the next in line, was very nervous upon picking up the revolver, spinning the barrel lightly, it was time for the game to begin once again, the cookie placing the cold metal piece against his head.

Click.

It was time for the cycle to continue. It was Kansai’s turn.

Miku brushed her fingers through her blue hair, “How many more people will be lost to a tragedy like this..?”

“I-If we t-take Runa’s word… N-Nineteen more…” Tetsu stammered out, holding onto Sai’s arm, sticking close to the other out of fear.

“The intention of Russian Roulette is to only have one winner…” Victor stated, “The chance of somebody winning now is one out of twenty for everyone.”

“I-I don’t like those o-odds for a-a-anybody…” Tetsu sniffled, hiding his face in Sai’s shoulder, “I-I want to go home… I-I wanna go with Kamiya-san…”

“E-Everything will be okay, Tetsu-chan…” Sai tried to assure his friend, using his free hand to carefully pet the male’s head in a comforting manner.

Click.

The gun moved to Anatoly.

As the gun was passed, Rei reappeared, walking through the metal door before it closed behind him. He was still stained with Yuri’s blood, as if he had made no attempt to clean himself off. The only thing about him that seemed clean now was his face and his gloves, which were back to being milky-white. The rest of his uniform still had the bloody splatters on it, and Norman had a terrifying feeling that it was only going to look worse from there.

“D-Dude, you d-d-didn’t even change?” Toby asked. Rei gave no response to the boy, merely glancing away as he stood in front of the door.

“You’re a cold-blooded killer.” Peko told the butler, but once again, no response came from him. He didn’t care. They could say all they wanted, but he didn’t care.

“J-Jeez… a-and I thought I was something d-different…” Toby shook his head, looking away with a huff.

“What’s that supposed to imply?” Luke looked over at the brunette.

The male responded, shrugging, “W-Well, that’s up to y-y-your interpretation.”

“You give me, like, really weird vibes…” Ann confessed.

“Aw, c’mon, give the guy a break! You might end up being a Discord kitten in his basement!” Rokuro suddenly piped up, grinning and speaking in a joking manner. Norman was put off guard by this for a moment before remembering what Rokuro was talking about earlier. Rokuro was pretending not to have been affected by Onion’s and Yuri’s deaths anymore. He probably painfully was, but now… he was putting up an act.

“H-Hey! I-I-I don’t have Discord k-kittens! I-I don’t even have Discord!” Toby stammered out.

“I-I don’t think I-I want to ask what a D-Discord kitten is…” Tetsu gulped.

Click.

The gun was passed to Victor.

Sara put her elbows on the table, looking down at her empty plate, “L-Let’s change the subject… How about we talk more about ourselves?”

“W-What else i-is there t-to even s-s-say?” Mikan asked.

“How about our families?” Frisk suggested.

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Sai nodded before looking around, “Er… who wants to go first?”

“I’ll pass on this topic. My family is, like, pretty boring.” Ann confessed.

“W-Why do you say that?” Tetsu tilted his head a bit.

“Well, like…” Ann leans back in her chair, “I’m, like, an only child and I just live with my mom and dad. Nothing too special.”

“Well, there’s no shame in that, my dear. Everyone probably feels the same way about their family in some capacity,” Victor said, “After all–”

Click.

“--my family isn’t too special either.”

The gun was passed to Mikan as the conversation continued. Norman looked at Victor, “Who’s in your family then?”

“Ah, just me, my fiance, and our son…” Victor chuckled lightheartedly, “We usually try to keep our marriage on the down-low though for reasons I’d rather not get into.”

“Aw, really? I bet you must really love your fiance!” Tomoe smiled, almost getting all lovey-dovey on the subject of being engaged.

“Is your fiance that lawyer friend you mentioned earlier?” Kat asked.

“Bingo! Spot on, my dear,” Victor smirked a bit, “Yes, he is my fiance. I love him very much and he loves me, even if at times he has difficulty showing it.”

“Jeez, you grown-ups t-talk weird…” Kansai huffed, glancing away a bit, “Y-You all talk about relationships as if it’s no big deal.”

“Riiiight, because, like, you’re in that phase where you think girls have cooties, right?” Ann teased.

“A-Am not!” Kansai snapped, although a bit of embarrassment showed on his face, “I-I didn’t even mention no cooties!”

“A-Are you in a relationship, Ann?” Tetsu quietly asked.

“Like, kind of? I’ve been sorta dating and not dating this one guy for a bit now,” Ann confessed, “But, like, I haven’t had the guts to really ask him out or make anything official, y’know?”

Ann paused for a moment before looking at Tetsu and Sai, “What about you two? Do you guys have a girlfriend or something?”

Tetsu’s face immediately turned red, “I-I- um- w-well-”

“Tetsu-chan and I are currently single.” Sai simply explained, which seemed to calm the other down.

“U-Um, y-yeah..! W-We’re not… d-doing any dating or anything…” Tetsu’s voice trailed off as he looked down, fidgeting.

“I wish I could have a boyfriend…” Kaya sighed, placing a hand on her chin, “Having a boyfriend sounds so much fun… Holding hands, small kisses, cute nicknames… it’s a school girl’s dream!”

Click.

The gun was passed to Sara.

“Dating would probably interfere with my job… Like, I wouldn’t mind being with somebody! I just don’t want it to get in the way of my responsibilities!” Luke proudly stated.

Sai nodded in understanding, “I guess if I were to be looking for a partner… they’d at least have to know their boundaries.”

“Relationships are stupid! I mean, being trapped with one person for the rest of your life? No thanks!” Kat stuck her tongue out in disgust.

“Um, Kat? Polyamorous relationships exist…” Kaya reminded her.

An embarrassed red tint spread across Kat’s face, “I-I knew those existed, dummy. I-i was just saying…”

“I wouldn’t mind being in a poly relationship. It seems nice. More support for everyone, y’know?” Anatoly remarked.

“Hey, hey! Norman! What kind of relationship would you like?” Rokuro asked, poking the boy’s cheek in a playful manner.

“E-Eh? Me?” Norman blinked, having suddenly been thrusted into the spotlight, “Um… I haven’t really thought of it… I never saw myself in a relationship like that, y’know?”

“Whaaaat? Not at all? C’mon, man, lighten up a little bit!” Rokuro teased.

“Once you reach puberty, that’ll change.” Ann grumbled.

“Now, not everyone has to be in a relationship.” Sai chuckled light-heartedly.

“Well, if they do end up in one, make sure it’s not a complicated one! Trust me, I’m learning from first-hand experience, it’s not fun!” Tomoe sighed dramatically.

“I don’t get what all the hype is about.” Toby made a sigh of his own, shaking his head in the process.

Click.

The gun was passed to Ann.

“To be honest, I wonder if my friend is thinking about me,” Ann confessed, spinning the barrel before putting it to her head, “I mean, I’ve probably been gone for a while already. But knowing him, he’ll have a gut feeling that something’s wrong! He’s such a sweet and kind person… If only I could–”

BANG!!

A gunshot quickly echoed throughout the room as the side of Ann’s head splattered out a crimson red. In an instant, the revolver was dropped as her body slammed against the table, the thud mixing in with the screams of shock, and the encore of horror. It wasn’t as gruesome as Yuri’s death, Norman will admit that, but it was disturbing nonetheless. The girl who had just been talking seconds earlier…

…became the third death in this lethal game.

Chapter Text

Screams echoed throughout the room, the bloody mess unfortunately all-too prevalent for Norman as he stared with wide eyes. He felt his stomach twist up into knots upon nots, his eyes watering with the impact of relization. Ann was dead. Ann was dead.

As if out of desperation, Mikan rushed over, fumbling and sputtering over her own tears as she desperately tried to check Ann over. Was she trying to find a sign of life? A desperate wish to save her? As fruitless it might’ve been, all eyes were on the new corpse and the nurse. Norman could feel his heartbeat get stuck in his throat, as if he had swallowed his own heart and was now choking breathlessly on it.

His heartbeat only grew worse when Mikan shook her head at long last.

“S-S-She’s… d-dead.” Mikan stammered out.

A cheerful laugh echoed throughout the room as Runa made herself known once more, twirling around for a few moments, “Another one down! That makes nineteen left and means we can move on with the round!”

“We’re… dropping like flies…” Frisk pointed out with dreadful realism. They were right. They had entered this room with twenty-two, and they’re already down to nineteen.

“...h-heh, s-so, what about it?” Rokuro suddenly spoke up. Norman’s attention was drawn away from the body to look at the other boy seated next to him. The blue-haired boy put both hands behind his head, “That’s what Russian Roulette is about, y-yeah? It’s meant to have only one winner in the end.”

“R-Rokuro-” Norman tried to speak up, but Rokuro gave him a look. It was an expression that spoke something simply, but the simplicity of it was something he couldn’t deny:

“You know I’m right.”

“O-Oh my god, A-Ann…” Tomoe had her mouth covered, still staring in horror as the footsteps of the butler left the room, presumably to get stuff to clean up the body, “S-She… I… S-She didn’t get to finish what she wanted to say!”

“This game is full of tragedy… but it’s a tragedy we cannot prevent, can we?” Victor inquired solemnly.

“What the Hell are you talking about!?” Kansai suddenly stood up, yelling out in both anger and frustration. Norman could see tears streaming down the younger boy’s face, and yet Kansai kept yelling, “It’s nineteen against two!! Why can’t we just do somethin’ about all of this!? Why are we just sitting here and taking it like a bunch of cowards!?”

“Would you really want to go up against us?”

Rei spoke as he finally returned, carefully pushing the cart out of the dark room. It had the same cleaning supplies as earlier. He gave Kasai an emotionless gaze, and yet, it shut the other up, forcing the kid to sit back down in the chair in his own tears. Anatoly sympathetically patted Kansai’s back as Rei began to head towards the bloody scene.

“...H-Hey. I want to, um… ask a question.” Miku raised her hand, not daring to even give a glance to the deceased. When Runa gave her a curious look, she continued, “Why are we going onto the other round when we’re already almost done?”

“Well, because I’m satisfied with two deaths like this!” Runa cheered, “And, besides, liiiiike, this round, you won’t need the revolver!”

“Eh? What the Hell do you mean by that?” Kat asked, also avoiding looking at Ann’s body as Rei began to put in the work of cleaning the mess up, as well as placing her body on the cart.

“Because we won’t play Russian Roulette this round!” Runa announced, “Instead, it’s going to be more of a deal and decide, if that makes sense!”

“..You have a deal for us?” Peko raised an eyebrow, a bit skeptical on what the young girl may have to offer.

“I’ll explain it more in detail once Rei is done. Can’t make decisions when there's still a body next to ya’!” Runa reasoned.

Sai cast a warry look to the butler for a moment before looking back to Runa. Like almost everyone else, there was an anxiety in his eyes. With an audibly heavy swallow, he spoke, “...R-Right. I can… see your reasoning.”

“K-Kamiya-san…” Tetsu stayed close to Sai’s side, fear quite apparent in his voice before Sai tried to soothe the other.

“I’m… I’ll be alright, Tetsu-chan. Trust me, okay?” Sai requested. After a few moments, the other male nodded.

Mikan let out a quiet sob, “O-Ohh, I-I’m s-s-sooo sorry… I-I wish I could be m-much more helpful…”

“It’s not like you can do much when a bullet goes through somebody’s head.” Kat muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Norman to hear. Even so, he can just barely recgonize her own anxious tone.

The small noises of the butler’s cleaning then stopped. Seemed like Rei was as done as he could be despite the tense atmosphere around the room. Standing himself straight, the butler began to wheel Ann’s body away. It was one final snipit of what Ann is now as he left. An unofficial final goodbye. One that had happened way too soon.

As Rei left into the darkness of the mysterious room, Whipped Cream proposed a question, “And that deal you spoke about?”

Runa ended up giving the group a bit of a giggle, her grin unwavered as she put a finger on her cheek, “Weeeell, you’ve all been complaining on how you gotta stay here until ya’ die, riiiight? Well, what if you all had a chance to… get out, hm?”

Norman’s eyes widened once he heard those words. Get out? Does Runa really mean getting out of this place alive? Or is this a trick? A play on words? Whatever it was, the confusion and shock on everyone’s faces were apparent. Runa swayed back and forth for a moment before continuing.

“This round is simple. It’s a round of choice. Sorta a majority vote, y’know? A person here, of your choosing… gets to leave alive! ”

“Wait, I thought there was only one living winner?” Tomoe pointed out.

“Heyyy, I never said that!” Runa stated, “Rule number one, only one person can get the cash prize. That person would have to be alive, obviously, but I never said that there won’t be living people who could leave the game, y’know? They just won’t get the main cash prize!”

“S-So… we have a chance of living this game a-after all?” Tomoe’s realization spread across the table like a flood. The thought of leaving the game alive was an enticing treat. Norman knew that all too well. But who could blame them? Three gruesome deaths with so little time apart, and anybody would be groveling in hopes of making it out alive. But something didn’t feel… right.

“There’s a catch, isn’t there?” Norman found himself asking outloud, causing all eyes to land on him. He hesitated before elaborating, “You don’t seem like the type to offer such a way out. There must be something in exchange that you want.”

Runa paused for a few seconds before letting out a laugh, skipping a bit closer to the table, “Weeeell, you could be right about that! Maybe I should give the deal in more detail…~”

Right as Runa said that, Rei returned, his face and gloves clean once more as he came with some sort of briefcase. Swiftly, he made it to Runa’s side. The girl seemed pleased with his arrival, as her laughter came back like ocean waves.

“For making it this far, we will be giving you fifty-thousand dollars as compensation if you are chosen to leave!” Runa explained before snapping her fingers. Rei nodded before positioning the briefcase in his arms, clicking the two locks open with ease before opening it. Indeed, bundles of cash were inside. A few gasps of surprise echoed throughout the room.

That is, until, Runa continued, “... However , while you get the money and a way out, you won’t be allowed to tell a single soul about the game until it’s over!”

“There’s no way you could enforce that!” Frisk argued, but the girl shook her head with a mischievous look.

“Oh, trust me, we have our ways! We like to keep an eye on things, y’know? This is our school, so surveillance is eeeeeverrrryyyywheeeerrrre !” Runa threw her arms out on emphasis, “And if you leave? Well, we have outside sources, y’know? What, you think that a private academy who does this sort of thing on a daily basis wouldn’t have elites out there?”

“So, let me get this straight,” Sai said, “If you leave, you get the money, but you stay silenced?”

“It’s not just the money,” Norman pointed out, “It’s also the guarantee that you’ll leave alive.”

The temptation of such a promise left everyone quiet. Runa had given them a moral dilemma, not only for who one would choose, but who would even want to leave. Selfishness and selflessness… A different battle compared to life and death, but certainly a battle nonetheless. Wary glances were cast all around. The quietness was broken with Runa’s snicker.

“You have all round to decide who gets to go, okay? Not too hard of a thing to do, I would think! But we’ll see, won’t we?” Runa teased the group, as if this wasn’t such a hard decision to make.

“T-That’s it? T-This is… This is all we have to do?” Kaya nervously asked, biting her lip as she eyed the money that sat in the briefcase before Rei closed it, locking it back up before positioning it under his arm. The butler stepped back, as if to give everyone more room as discussions began.

“S-Seems like it…” Kansai looked down to the floor, his hat positioned where he could hide his face. Norman felt some empathy for the younger boy. No kid should have to go through all of this.

“...If nobody else is going to start this discussion properly, then I will,” Whipped Cream suddenly spoke up from his silence, “I say that I get to go.”

“Huh? W-Why you?” Kaya inquired.

“I almost got killed a round ago. It’s only fair that I get to leave alive, I already had my near-death experience,” Whipped Cream answered.

“As if you could really call that a near-death experience.” Peko glared at the cookie.

“Shouldn’t the weakest be able to go instead?” Miku asked.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea, Miku!” Luke stood up, a spark of hope in his eyes, “Let’s get the most vulnerable person here to take the money and leave!”

“But that person will have to agree to be able to take the money, and it’s not like any of us would admit that they're weak or vulnerable.” Sara pointed out calmly.

“Well, I am! I’m weak! I’m vulnerable!” Tomoe shouted a bit, “I’m just a high-school student, I can’t deal with this!”

“And some of us are middle school students, not even that ,” Rokuro snickered, “Seriously, that excuse is just pathetic at this point. Maybe we should vote for you, since you seem like a weak crybaby right now!”

“Oh, do not get us started on that right now, Rokuro.” Anatoly warned.

Rokuro perked up, looking at the other male before squinting, “...And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“We wouldn’t even be having this i-i-issue if Onion was st-still alive!” Toby exclaimed.

There was a lull of silence momentarily. Norman cast a glance at Rokuro and the now-empty chair next to him. Rokuro’s face was a distressed pale and purple for a moment as he turned his head away. However, after a few moments, he changed his expression and laughed a bit.

“Haha, you got that right! Buuuut Onion isn’t in the equation anymore, so she doesn’t matter in this now.” Rokuro forced a snicker. Norman knew it was forced. It- It had to be. There was no way he could genuinely laugh right now.

“Can we all at least agree that Rokuro can’t be voted out?” Tomoe asked, “He’s already killed a person, so he deserves to stay in the game!”

“Woah, miss, that’s a lot of aggression there!” Parsnip piped up.

Rokuro shrugged, “Fine with me. I don’t wanna leave anyway. Things have just started to become interesting.”

“S-So Rokuro’s out of the question… What about Tomoe after all?” Kaya questioned, looking around for some sort of answer.

“I’m not sure if Tomoe should go. Begging doesn’t exactly mean that she’s worth it.” Parsnip pointed out.

“Begging?? You seriously think that I’m begging ??” Tomoe gasped, as if Parsnip had just insulted her lineage.

“H-How about w-we all agree that n-no high schoolers should go, s-same with adults?” Toby suggested with a twitchy shrug, “A-Any objections?”

“I’m fine with that… There’s better people than me who deserve to go.” Sara humbly confessed.

“But- But what about me?” Tomoe shakily asked.

“And me! I fall into the category of high schooler too!” Whipped Cream objected.

“U-Um, well… I-I understand b-both of your f-frustration, b-but…” Mikan hesitated to continue, “B-But… w-we do have middle schoolers h-here… a-and children of a younger age…”

“Exactly! It makes much more sense to have somebody who has a longer life to live to get to go!” Toby stated.

“W-Well, that makes things e-easier then… w-who’s the youngest here?” Kaya asked.

“I’m thirteen, if that counts as anything,” Norman confessed. Admittedly, he was still conflicted on his own thoughts on the matter. Would it really be right of him to leave with the money and say nothing?

Kaya nodded, silently keeping note, “Anybody younger than that?”

“I’m eleven,” Frisk raised their hand, “And other than me, there’s one more kid here.”

The kid then pointed to the other one near them; Kansai. He looked up for a moment, before his eyes widened.

“Er- well, yeah, I’m t-twelve, but Frisk beats me by a year, yeah? So that means they get to go!” Kansai exclaimed.

“I mean, he’s got a point, so Frisk, does this mean we vote for you?” Kat asked, arms crossed as she looked down from her end of the table.

“Well, that’s the thing… I don’t think I want to.” Frisk confessed.

Norman felt as if he was just punched in his stomach, “...wh-wha-? What do you mean by that? Why would you want to stay here?”

“Because I want to win.” The answer admittedly caught Norman off-guard. The confidence and determination with that single sentence, coming from such a small thing, almost made the boy uneasy.

“B-But- but young one, it’s way too dangerous now! Would you really want to risk your life for any of this?” Sai expressed his concern, trying to keep formal, but Frisk spoke again.

“I don’t want to leave. I want to win.” Frisk repeated with the same level of assertion.

“It’s no use,” Peko asserted, “Everyone needs to vote for somebody and the person needs to accept it themselves.”

“Frisk, please, this is an extremely serious matter!” Sai stood up, his hands on the table as he leaned over to have a better look at Frisk, “You know that you could get shot and killed, right? You do realize–”

“I know very well what I’m getting into,” Frisk kept that neutral expression of theirs, “And I want to stay.”

Sai opened his mouth to speak again, but upon realizing that he couldn’t, he sat back down, unable to counter Frisk anymore.

“Soooo, that leaves Norman and Kansai, yeah?” Rokuro asked. Norman has just realized that Rokuro had been looking at him his whole time. Eyes glanced back and forth between him and the small baseball player.

“Kansai, you would want to go, yeah?” Anatoly looked at the smaller boy next to him, who averted gazes upon being addressed.

Kansai mumbled something that Norman couldn’t hear from where he was at, but Anatoly’s expression and response gave him the answer that he needed.

“You… You don’t know?” Anatoly seemed to repeat. Even the animal on his shoulder seemed confused.

“K-Kansai… don’t you want to leave either?” Kaya asked, concern and surprise reasonably in her voice.

“I… I don’t know, okay?” Kansai spoke up more as he finally looked up to see everyone’s faces, “I… I really feel conflicted right now, okay?”

Norman couldn’t help but to sigh in relief. At least he wasn’t the only one who felt conflicted. Anatoly placed his hand on Kansai’s arm.

“H-Hey now, just.. Think about it for a bit longer, okay? But in my opinion… you should probably take it.” Anatoly stated, although Kansai didn’t respond to him, merely sitting there in silence. With the lack of response, Anatoly looked over at the white-haired boy. “What about you, huh?”

“M-Me?” This is what Norman dreaded. He hadn’t made much of an answer either, and yet eyes quickly landed on him.

“Y-You’re a k-kid too. D-Don’t you wanna l-leave?” Toby inquired, tilting his head slightly as he jittered.

“W-Well…” Norman hesitated before gulping down his anxiety. “I don’t know yet. I haven’t made m-much of a desicion either.”

“It’s now or never, y’know.” Kat had an aggressive tone in her voice. “It’s either we all vote for you and you get to leave or you lose your chance.”

“P-Please don’t pressure him, Kat!” Kaya exclaimed, but Kat continued.

“I’m not wrong ! You know I’m not! So he better make his choice quickly, because I’m getting impatient!” Kat rambled.

“Somebody better take this chance since you already eliminated me as an option!” Tomoe complained.

Norman took a deep breath as his mind raced. As much as he wanted to leave… as much as he wanted to see Ray and Emma again… would it be the morally right thing to do? After Ann’s death? After Yuki’s? After Onion’s ? Could he really just run away from potential massacare and pretend like nothing happened? That these innocent children… these innocent people … weren’t just being killed by the cause of a gun? Because of the promise of some cash?

No. No, he couldn’t just leave here. He had stayed here this long. He had no real willingness to win, but he knew better than to be selfish and take away this chance.

“...I want to stay.” Norman finalized.

“You want to still win?” Peko gave him a weird look.

Norman shook his head, simply saying. “I have my own reasons.”

His attention was shifted once he heard somebody get out of their seat. It was Kansai, who was looking down at the table, standing out of his seat. He seemed conflicted, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“K-Kansai?” Tetsu stuttered out, possibly just as concerned as most of the other people here.

“I-I…” Kansai hesitated, hiccuping and sniffling before attempting to wipe his tears away. “I… I want to go.”

“So you’re saying that we should all vote for you?” Whipped Cream wanted to confirm, to which Kansai nodded.

“I’ll… I’ll try to find a w-way to help everyone, b-but… I don’t think I have much of a chance here…” Kansai confessed. “I have friends out there… I… I have a family out there, if you could even call it that… I want to be confident. I want to be the best, but I… I-I don’t think I can be…”

“Kansai…” Sai looked down at the ground for a moment before clearing his throat and looking back at the boy. “You’re a brave young man.”

Rokuro turned around in his seat, looking back at Runa and Rei. “Hey, yo! We’re ready to vote now!”

“Finally! Took you long enough!” Runa clapped her hands together excitedly. “So, who is everyone voting for?”

“We all vote for Kansai to be the one to leave with the money.” Luke answered her question quite quickly.

Runa glanced over at the boy in question, a smile present on her face. “And do you vote for yourself too?”

Kansai hesitated before nodding, saying. “I just want out of here.”

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Runa snapped her fingers, making Rei start to approach Kansai with the suitcase. “Alrighty then! Just follow Rei and he’ll getcha’ outta here through a secret way!”

“You’re not going to use the door?” Victor asked, his eyes on the locked, only reliable exit.

“She swallowed the key, remember?” Rokuro reminded him. “They wouldn’t want us to take the opportunity to swim out like fish either. Kansai has no real choice.”

Kansai was handed the suitcase as Rei guided him from his seat and towards the metal door.

“Wait a second!” Kat explained, forcing Rei and Kansai to stop as all attention landed on her. “And how do we trust this?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Parsnip blinked in confusion.

“How do we know that this butler guy will show him a way out?” Kat glared at Rei. “What if he tries to kill Kansai?”

“Man, that would be a twist!” Runa giggled. “But I’m true to my word! Kansai will get to leave this place alive. Whether you believe that thouuuugh… Well, it’s all up to you! Nyahahah!”

Rei opened the metal door at that moment, allowing the boy to peer into the darkness. It seemed like Kansai hesitated as he looked back at everyone else. After a few moments of silence, the boy forced a smile, thumping his chest two times before giving a thumbs-up to everyone else in the room. A signal, possibly some sort of reassurance, that everything would be alright for him. After that, Norman watched Kansai step into the darkness shown, with the butler slowly following, and the metallic door closing right behind him.

“K-Kamiya-san…” Tetsu looked at his friend, saying something that everyone, deep down, was thinking. “Kamiya-san… I’m scared.”

“This leaves… eighteen left.” Toby noted, counting everyone in the room in a quick fashion. “Only three died though. Lucky kid.”

“Hey now, no need to be jealous.” Rokuro leaned back in his chair, almost casually so. “I mean, we did all vote for him to go. Not like you can complain now!”

“H-Hey, I never s-said I was complaining!” Toby objected. “Y-You don’t have to put words in my mouth!”

“The point is, Kansai will be okay… He has to be.” Anatoly stated. “It’s one less kid that we have to worry about.”

“Do you think Runa and Rei are really right?” Miku suddenly inquired, before elaborating. “About being unable to tell anybody else about this? Could it still be.. Possible?”

“There’s only one way to find out..” Norman said, pausing to glance back at the door. “..And we won’t know the answer until much later, if at all.”

“I-I hope we’ll g-get help… I-I don’t wanna g-go through this anymore…” Mikan stammered out, sniveling as it looked like the poor thing was gonna burst into tears at any moment.

“Don’t worry, my dear, I’m sure everything will be alright.” Victor tried to reassure, but before he could go any further, the metal door had opened. The butler stepped out, all alone, before closing the door behind him. In one hand was a familiar tray, and the even more familiar revolver rested ontop of it.

“We’re going to continue the game, a-aren’t we?” Whipped Cream gulped.

“Yup! Round four is undergoing!” Runa announced as Rei walked past her, placing the tray right in front of Parsnip. He was up first, after all.

“Well, I guess this means we can play again!” With a cheery tone, Parsnip didn’t hesitate to pick up the gun, spinning the barrell two times. Before anybody could say a word, he had pulled the trigger once he had put it to his head. The relieving clicking sound resonated throughout as the bunny then handed it to Rokuro.

“Jeez, you don't hesitate, huh!” Rokuro chuckled before spinning the barrel himself.

“Be careful now! You shouldn’t play around with a gun! This is a serious thing!” Anatoly stated, although it didn’t stop Rokuro from pulling the trigger. Nothing but a click. The weapon was then passed right into Norman’s hands.

Norman hesitated. Was it really wise to go as quickly as Parsnip and Rokuro? Even so, his fingers carefully spun the barrel. He did his best to be careful as he placed it against his temple. He squeezed his eyes shut as he forced himself to press his finger against the trigger.

Click.

No bullet. With a sigh of relief, the gun was passed onto Miku.

“..Heyyyy, I have a question!” Rokuro suddenly piped up. “If you guys won and stuff, what would you do with the money?”

“Why does that matter?” Luke asked, visibly confused, but Rokuro decided to elaborate a bit.

“It’s just curiosity, y’know? Besides, wouldn’t it bring any sort of comfort to know the motives behind it all?” Rokuro suggested before leaning back in his chair. “I’ll go first. I had no motivation when I started this, so if I somehow won, I would… buy a party boat.”

“A party boat?” Sara gave him a weird look. “Why that out of everything?”

“Hey now, if I had to go through hell and get a million or so dollars at the end of it, I’m going to party for the rest of my life!” Rokuro shrugged. “Celebrate whatever is left of my life because it’s not like it would last too long.”

Sai paused, thinking before clearing his throat. “Well… If I had personally won, I would’ve possibly put most of the money towards the school I go to to help improve it, and then what’s left over will go towards my savings.”

“I would probably give most of it to different charities.” Victor chuckled lightly. “My husband and I are already living quite the lavish life. We don’t need to make ourselves any richer, per say.

Click. The gun was passed to Kaya.

“Why did you join the game then if you didn’t come for the money?” Sara inquired.

“I was simply just intrigued.” Victor stated. “After all, it’s not everyday you get offered a vague game for such a big prize. Something must’ve made it special.”

“I guess if we all thought about it like that, most of us wouldn’t be here, huh?” Luke looked around a bit. “I mean, if we would’ve suspected the danger…”

“N-Not necessarily…” Tetsu spoke up, sticking close to Sai as he did so. “T-This is a school, after all… a school we never went to… we would have never, um… been able to suspect something so dangerous.”

“Tetsu-chan isn’t wrong,” Sai pointed out. “And even if some of us were to suspect something fishy at play, some of us would’ve gone through with it anyways.”

“So there’d be casualties either way, huh?” Rokuro smirked slightly. “A weird way to think about it, but I can’t argue with that logic, can I?”

Click. The gun was passed to Tobias.

“Back to the topic at hand,” Peko interrupted, “If I had won the money, I would’ve given it to a… friend of mine.”

“I would buy a cake!” Parsnip announced proudly.

“I guess we can cross Rokuro’s use of the money off the category of Most Absurd Uses …” Sara sighed. “Parsnip took his title.”

“Tell me, Miss Sara, what would you do with the money?” Sai asked out of curiosity.

Sara paused, as if suddenly hesitating. “..Please, just call me Sara. If I had won the money… I’m not too sure, really. I’d probably give most of it to my mom and dad, maybe donate some to charity… I definitely want to use some to have fun with my best friend.”

“K-Kat, if one of us one the money, we would use the money to help improve the Occult Club, r-right?” Kaya asked.

“That is if we get more members after this whole thing. God knows we’ll lose at least one member…” Kat sighed.

Click. The gun was passed to Frisk.

“Let’s, er, not think about it too much. Just for now.” Sai said before looking around. “Who else wants to share what they would do with the money?”

“I would use the money to get a proper education.” Anatoly answered before quickly adding on in a panic. “L-Like college and stuff! And also to help take care of my pet!”

His squirrel chirped in happiness, rubbing up against his cheek as he raised a hand to gently pet it.

“Some of you have better sounding reasons than others.” Peko said.

“Well, it doesn’t matter in the end, does it?” Victor asked. “After all, this game isn’t all about reasoning. It’s about luck.”

“It’s still fun to think about the possibilities!” Whipped Cream claimed. “For example, if I won, I would probably make my own dance school!”

“You do look like some sort of ballerino, so that makes sense.” Sara nodded. “Do you dance a lot?”

“For the most part, yes! I do performances quite often where I come from!” Whipped Cream answered swiftly and with pride.

Click. The gun was passed to Luke.

“I would put the money all in on my music and my career!” Miku spoke confidently. “I want to rule the world with my tunes and gain as many fans as possible!”

“U-Um… I… I-I would use the m-money for… F-For medical p-purposes…” Mikan mumbled quietly, as if scared that her own answer would be incorrect.

“I’m not sure what I would do with all of the money.” Frisk confessed. “Maybe I’ll give it to my mom. Maybe some for my friends.”

“Golly gee, you all have such amazing answers!” Parsnip commented cheerfully.

“Eh, as amazing as they can be.” Rokuro shrugged. Norman noted the indifference or laid-back nature his friend was showing. Was this also a way to not give Runa what she wanted? It was hard to tell, but for now, he would assume so. Noticing Norman’s stare, Rokuro gave him a smile. “Something wrong?”

“A-Ah- no, sorry, I was just thinking.” Norman quickly apologized.

“Who hasn’t answered yet?” Anatoly asked, taking a quick glance around before pointing further down the table. “Tetsu, was it? Have you given an answer?”

Tetsu shook his head. “I… I don’t have one, sir. I-If anything, it would be the same as Kamiya-san.”

Click. The gun was passed to Whipped Cream.

“Oh, Tetsu-chan, you can come up with something for yourself.” Sai assured, resting a hand on the other’s shoulder. “Do you really want to use the money for the school like me?”

Tetsu hesitated for a moment before smiling faintly. “W-Well, yeah, a part would be for the school, but… I’d also put in funds for yo–”

BANG.

Norman refused to look. No, he couldn’t look. He didn’t want to. Despite all of the sudden gasps and screams, he couldn’t bring himself to accept what that gunshot was. Where it had come from. Why it had happened.

But before he could accept it, his head moved on its own, showing Whipped Cream’s crumbled head, slumped over in his chair, now partially covered in jam. It was thankfully a less gruesome sight than what Norman had seen before, but it still hit him in the gut the more he had stared at the unresponsive cookie. The more it had sinken in and he had thought about it.

He had nearly encountered death two rounds ago, so why? Norman thought to himself. Why did he have to die now? Already? It’s… It’s not fair.

“Nyahahaha!” Runa giggled to herself. “Another one down! But awww, that’s our final cookie in the game… Oh well! I guess it’s just the way the cookie crumbles !”

“Y-You sicken me…” Luke gulped, covering his mouth as if he was about to vomit.

Rei retreated back through the metal door. It must be his whole routine; cleaning up the dead moments after it had happened. Norman couldn’t help wondering if Rei enjoyed his job. Norman knew that he, himself, couldn’t.

“J-Jeez… T-That was sudden…” Toby noted.

“It’s a fucking bullet , of course it would be sudden, you idiot!!” Kat yelled, standing up as she slammed her hands down onto the table, giving the older teenager a death glare.

“So he died after all…” Peko crossed her arms. “It wouldn’t have mattered then.”

“What are you talking about?” Tomoe gve her a confused look.

“Yuri and her sabotaging.” Peko glanced over at Tomoe. “Whipped Cream was going to die early anyways. So it didn’t matter if Yuri was caught or not.”

“It was all a matter of luck.” Norman objected, although he stayed calm about it. “You can predict your chances, but in the end, you can’t predict luck.”

“I almost feel bad for the guy. I mean, I guess he meant well, yeah?” Rokuro shrugged.

“What do you mean that you almost feel bad?” Sai was in shock as Rokuro cleared his throat to elaborate.

“He tried to put his life above a kid’s, didn’t he?” Rokuro pointed out. “Same with the ditz.”

“I- well-” Tomoe stood up, quickly trying to defend herself. “You would’ve done the same had we not all decided that none of us should vote for you!”

“Would I?” Rokuro smirked. “Well, I guess we’ll never know now, huh?”

“You- You’re such an asshole !” Tomoe spat.

“H-Hey, um, l-let’s not get h-heated here-” Tetsu stammered out, trying to calm the waters before it became a storm.

“I’m not wrong!” Tomoe stated. “He kills one kid and he suddenly thinks death can’t affect him!”

“That’s enough!”

Norman found himself raising his voice. Attention suddenly drifted to him. After a few moments, he let out a faint sigh.

“Fighting about this here and now will get us nowhere. Russian Roulette doesn’t need this tension ontop of this atmosphere anyways.”

“Norman is right.” Sai agreed. “Please, let’s just all calm down here, okay?”

Rei had finally reappeared with the cart and cleaning supplies, heading towards Whipped Cream’s broken body before he began the cleaning process. Norman couldn’t see much from where he was, but he knew that Rei was getting jelly on his gloves.

“I-I feel… s-so bad for him…” Mikan sniffled, almost crying already.

“H-He’ll be going to a nice place, r-right? His soul, I mean?” Kaya asked.

Norman thought for a moment. “If… if that’s what you would like to think, then yes. His soul is in a much better place than here.”

“I… I would think everyone’s s-souls so far are in a better place now…” Tetsu confessed. “It… gives at least a little peace of mind.”

“What gives the most p-peace of mind to m-me is that they’re d-dead.” Toby said. “I-I mean, it ups the c-chances that we w-win, right?”

“That’s one way to look at it.” Rei, to even Norman’s surprise, then spoke up, rising a bit so he could cast a glare, almost quite coldly, towards Toby. Then, without another word, the butler placed the crumbling body of the cookie onto the cart, as well as the cleaning supplies. He placed the revolver, now presumably reloaded, on Anatoly’s place before he began to cart everything away, body and all.

“So… the game continues now, right?” Anatoly looked over at a grinning Runa, as if trying to get some sort of confirmation.

“Yes sir! The round continues on!” Runa nodded before giggling. She was enjoying this. Of course she was.

Anatoly sighed, as if a part of him had hoped that they wouldn’t have to do this anymore. He had been proven wrong as Norman saw him pick up the revolver, spinning its barrel before beginning to place it against his temple. Norman found himself instinctively looking away, as if preparing for the worst.

Click.

But the worst didn’t happen. The gun, instead, was passed to Victor.

“Hey, Miss Runa?” Parsnip turned around in his seat to look back at her. “Will we be getting any food eventually? I’m hungry!”

“Oh! Oh! Yeah, when’s the food coming?” Rokuro added on with a playful tone.

“How can you two possibly be hungry at a time like this?” Luke asked, almost feeling sick from the idea itself.

“Oh, yeah, you’ll get sweet treats eventually! Just be patient, as that’s a few rounds away!” Runa assured, although Norman felt a sense of dread with that. He wouldn’t trust any treat given to him, especially by her.

Click. The gun was passed to Mikan.

“I guess we just… continue on with conversation?” Sai inquired, glancing around at everyone else at the table for confirmation.

“It’s not like there’s left to talk about.” Sara said.

“We can talk about our favorite desserts! I’ll go first! I like cake!” Parnsip said with an innocent smile.

“D-Desserts… right, um… I like… s’mores, if those count?” Tetsu fidgeted with his sleeve as Sai put an arm around his shoulder.

“Tetsu-chan and I have gone camping together a few times, and every time, I’d always have to help him with his s’more.” Sai said, almost teasing the other.

Tetsu responded with an embarrassed look, a red dusting his cheeks. “I-It’s… It always falls apart when I try it.”

“I would have to say that cupcakes are my favorite dessert.” Kaya said.

Click. The gun was passed to Sara.

“That’s only because you sometimes make cupcakes for the occult club.” Kat stated, before asking. “Why do you think it’s a good idea? We’re not just reading books on the occult, we’re actually doing stuff.”

“It’s certainly a… weird combination, but I think it’s sweet of Kaya to do that for your club!” Luke gave a small smile.

“U-Um… I like… mints…” Mikan stuttered out quietly.

“I don’t think mints are desserts, Mikan..” Norman pointed out.

“A-Ah, I-I’m sorry!” She suddenly cowered, shriveling up and sniveling. It took Norman a moment to even realize the sudden shift in mood.

“Oh- nonono, i-it’s okay!” Norman quickly tried to assure the apologetic nurse. “I-I was just pointing that out, you know?”

“Hm… I would say that my favorite dessert would be dark chocolate ice cream.” Victor calmly commented. “It’s bitter, cold, and sweet, just like my husband.”

Click. The gun was passed to Kat.

“Aw, that’s quite sweet, Mr. Blake!” Kaya seemed smitten with the idea.

Peko crossed her arms. “You sure do like to talk about this husband guy a lot.”

“But of course, my dear. Who wouldn’t talk about their love interest a lot?” Victor asked with a chuckle.

“W-Well…” Tetsu continued to fidget with his sleeves. “I… I wish I could do that one day. T-Talk about somebody I love like that..”

“Same here. Having a boyfriend would sound so nice…” Kaya sighed dreamily.

“No way! It’s so much hard work!” Tomoe huffed. “I should know, since the relationship I’m in is, like, super-duper complicated!”

“It just sounds like you made it complicated.” Rokuro snickered.

Click. The gun was passed to Peko.

“Love is weird. I’m not interested in that s-sort of stuff.” Toby huffed.

“Falling in love with a stranger is what I find weird.” Anatoly shook his head. “I mean, how can you just look at somebody and then suddenly fall head over heels with them? Shouldn’t you get to know them first?”

“I guess it’s up to each person, I suppose.” Luke gave a bit of a shrug.

“Weren’t we talking about desserts before?” Rokuro reminded us.

“Ah, right. Let’s keep that topic going.” Sai requested before clearing his throat. “I personally like cinnamon buns.”

“Oh, that reminds me how much we used to b-bake at my place, Kamiya-san.” Tetsu smiled a little bit.

“If I had to choose… I would have to go with shaved ice.” Sara said.

Click. The gun was passed to Sai.

“P-Please be careful, Kamiya-san..” Tetsu worried as he watched his friend spin the barrel.

“I promise that I will be okay, Tetsu-chan.” Sai assured him. “You don’t have to worry about me all of the time.”

The cyan male gave the other a frown. “But I have to, Kamiya-san..”

“You’ll make yourself sick if you keep fretting over this.” Sai sighed.

Tetsu held onto Sai’s shoulder with his hands. “If it were me, w-wouldn’t you worry?”

Sai paused, his mouth open as if to object, but he ended up stopping before sighing. “I guess I will worry myself sick over you too, Tetsu-chan.”

“Be careful.” Tetsu warned as he watched with bated breath as Sai placed the tip of the metallic revolver against his temple.

Click. The gun was passed to Tetsu.

“Now it’s your turn to be careful, Tetsu-chan.” Sai said, handing the gun to his cyan friend.

“You two both seem close.” Frisk said, pointing out the obvious.

“You’re both childhood friends, right? That’s so cute!” Parsnip clapped his hands together.

“We’ve k-known each other since we were small… I-I guess it’s natural that we're closer than most other friends…” Tetsu nervously fidgeted with the gun in his hands.

Norman hesitated to speak for a moment, before the words slipped from his mouth; “Will you two be okay if one of you..?”

The two males paused, and Norman could see the two of them tense and they both glanced at one another. After a few painfully long moments, Sai cleared his throat. “We’d rather not think about that right now.”

“Y-Yeah… I … d-definately don’t want to wonder about that…” Tetsu gulped as he shakily placed the gun against his temple and hesitantly pulled the trigger.

Click. The gun was passed to Tomoe.

“Aw, dang, it’s seriously my turn again?” Tomoe whined, even though he could tell that she was just as scared for her own life as everyone else was for theirs. “I wish you could just skip your turn i-if you wanna…”

“If we could do that, everyone would be skipping as many turns as possible.” Luke pointed out.

“Oh, s-shut up!” Tomoe huffed. “Let a girl dream, can’t you?”

Luke put his hands up a bit. “I’m just saying, as much as we all want it, Runa nor her creepy butler would allow it, not even in a fantasy.”

“Luke is technically right.” Norman said, making Tomoe give him a nasty look.

“Cut me some slack, won’t you? You guys are becoming just as weird as Rokuro is!” Tomoe stated.

“More of me? That’d be fun! Definitely better than more of you!” Rokuro lightly teased.

Click. The gun was passed to Parsnip.

“Can you two stop bickering all of the time now? You act like Rin and Len, and I don’t mean that in a good way.” Miku politely asked.

“Or Sans and Papyrus.” Frisk added, although when they got confused looks, they explained it more. “They’re two of my friends. They’re both brothers.”

“I find it adorable! They’re just finding another way to get along!” Parsnip stated, shaking the gun around a bit with his exaggerated hand movements.

“D-Don’t just flail that around, you can hurt somebody with that thing!” Tomoe scolded.

“The worst thing that can happen is that the gun goes off.” Toby said.

Frisk deadpanned. “I think that’s the point of her worry.”

“I-I think the point of what Tomoe’s trying to say is, w-well…” Kaya paused, turning in her seat to look at Parsnip as he put the gun to his temple. “J-Just be careful with the gun when you use it and–”

BANG.

Screams and cries quickly echoed throughout the room, like a twistedly familiar tune. Something now stuck in a loop in Norman’s mind as he saw blood splatter onto what once was Onion’s seat. The contrasting crimson and dirty fur chunks painted the side of Parsnip’s head as his body eventually slumped over, awkwardly leaning over the right side of his chair. Norman couldn’t help but to stare at the animal’s corpse. An innocent bunny no longer; only a lamb to the slaughter as Norman couldn’t help but to think one thing as he processed this.

That makes sixteen.

Chapter Text

“H-Holy shit… H-Holy shit, Parsnip, is he…” Tomoe shakily put her hand out, as if she had wanted to touch the bunny’s corpse, only to hesitate and tremble before pulling her hand away.

“D-Damn… That’s one way to g-go out…” Rokuro gulped, straining a bit of a smile as he stared down at the limp Parsnip.

“P-Poor thing…” Luke covered his mouth, tears swelling up in his eyes. “I-I…”

“Aaaand that’s the end of this round!” Runa clapped her hands together, hopping up and down excitedly. “I guess hunting season came back in style!”

Norman kept his mouth covered, holding his breath as his eyes practically bored into Parsnip’s lifeless body. He felt like if he uncovered his mouth, he would puke. He felt like if he even breathed, the stomach that was now tied up in knots would release its contents. A sore, aching feeling wrapped around his chest and shoulders, almost like another heavy weight had been added to his body.

Norman could already hear a stomach lurching. With the voice of Victor, he could recognize who it belonged to without taking his eyes away from the body.

“It’s alright, Anatoly…” Victor did his best to soothe. “Oh my, if that kid was still there, he would be absolutely covered…”

“S-Shut- hrnk- up-” Norman could practically hear Anatoly’s suffering. Victor wasn’t as helpful as he would’ve liked.

“That poor bunny rabbit… He didn’t deserve something so gruesome…” Miku placed her hand on Norman’s shoulder, leaning over him a bit to get a better look at the corpse. “He seemed so innocent…”

“It had to happen eventually.” Peko had a calmness in her voice, but to say that she didn’t at least sound at least a little perturbed would be a lie. “Remember, this is Russian Roulette. Most likely, everyone but one will die.”

“B-But- but that can’t be true!” Kaya cried out, her voice struggling with her own tears. “A-After all, Kansai–”

“We don’t know Kansai’s fate.”

A few moments of silence settled onto the table. Norman managed to avert his gaze, which landed on the braided female. Her red eyes were somber with a sad truth. If you chose not to trust Rei and Runa, then she was right. You wouldn’t know Kansai’s fate. He could be just as dead as Parsnip was. He could be injured. Maybe tortured. Too many possibilities on what was happening to him now. Perhaps that’s how Runa wanted it.

“I… I-I don’t want to do this anymore…” Tetsu sobbed, covering his face as he shriveled up, Sai wrapping his arms around the other as a reaction, allowing the turquoise male to bury his face into his shoulder. With gasping breaths, Tetsu cried out. “I-I can’t take this anymore! W-Why must all of these i-innocent people suffer!?”

“T-Tetsu-chan…” Sai kept the other close, a water forming in his own eyes before his gaze went elsewhere. Following the gaze, Norman turned around in his seat, only to hear the familiar sound of wheels turning. Rei had emerged from the dark room already with the cleaning supplies and cart. When had he left? How long had Norman been staring at the body? Had the silence lasted that long? Time was nothing but a blur when all these emotions were tearing you apart.

The cart carefully wheeled over to Parsnip. Like what Norman had seen before, the butler was quick to get to work to clean up the area and remove the rabbit’s body. How could Rei still look so empty while he did such a thing? Was he disguising his emotions? Did he have to handle this all too many times before?

“D-Disgusting… T-This is just disgusting…” Tomoe stood up from her seat, stepping away a bit, so she would be further from Rei and his work.

“I mean… It could be worse.” Toby shrugged.

“Worse!? Are you even hearing yourself right now!?” Luke exclaimed.

Frisk held onto Luke’s hand. “I think Toby meant that Parsnip could’ve been in a lot more pain.”

“Er… yeah… Let’s go with th-th-that.” Toby shuttered, giving an awkward thumbs-up.

“K-Kamiya-san… Kamiya-san, I-I’m scared…” Tetsu continued to sob, his shriveled form trembling as he cried. “I-I’m so scared, I…”

“Bloody Hell… What the fuck!” Kat slammed her fist down at the table in anger. That’s when it finally hit Norman. The reason everyone’s emotions were so high now was because it had finally settled in for everyone. The fact that their friends were dying, and that more death was to come. Maybe before, there was a delusional room for denial, but here they are, sitting at this table and crying and shouting. At least the ones who are alive could still do that.

Norman didn’t see it before the moment Connie- Onion died, this had become an all-too real nightmare.

“A-And you !” Luke’s voice drew Norman’s attention towards the angel, only to follow his gaze to the grinning girl herself, Runa. Her smile still sent shivers down his spine.

“You’ve been- You’ve been smiling this whole time! Have you really no sympathy!?” Luke exclaimed, as if desperate for some sort of answer.

“Have you only realized that now?” Peko asked calmly, to which Luke snapped at her.

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Luke barked before his attention turned back to Runa. “You- You have no shame, do you!? Just because you’re hosting this stupid- n-no, stupid doesn’t cover this! Calling this stupid would be mocking those who died! Just because you’re hosting this horrendous nightmare of a game, you think you can just laugh at these innocent people who’ve died!?”

“I thought my problem was that I smiled.” Runa’s smugness within her teasing didn’t settle well with Luke.

“I’ll give you a problem alright–” Luke stepped away from his seat, intentions dead set on heading towards the other girl. Frisk stood up, reaching their hand out to grab onto his arm.

But both of them froze when they both heard the clicking of a gun.

Rei’s stance was straight and rigid, holding the golden revolver of his right at Luke. Norman remembered this weapon; it was the same one Rei had used to kill Yuri. The golden glimmer of it was all too recognizable. Luke’s eyes widened, frozen in his stance before he slowly put his hands up, imitating a type of surrender to show that he was no threat.

“Ooo, aren’t you a lucky one? One more step and Rei could’ve shot you dead!” Runa giggled before it turned into full-blown laughter. Playfully, she skipped over to Rei, and despite any blood he might’ve gotten on himself, she hugged him like a child would before looking right at Luke, giving him a teasing smirk. “As long as Rei-kun here is on my side, none of you can do anything to me! And if you do, every last one of you will die! And thaaaat’s a promise! Nyahaha!”

Rei glanced down at Runa. To Norman’s curiosity, his cold gaze had stayed when he looked down at the one he was meant to protect. It was like he could also shoot her dead if he wanted to. But nothing exactly came of the gaze as Runa motioned him to put the revolver away, to which he did so.

“Get back to your seat, sir.” Rei said, although he really only needed to tell Luke once as the angel returned to where he was sat. Frisk held his hand, which only caused Luke to flinch for a moment before realizing that the child was attempting to comfort him.

Runa let go of the butler before returning to her own spot in the background. “Foooor this next round, we’ll be doing things a little differently again!”

“And what does that mean exactly?” Kat asked bitterly as the metal cart made a slight squeaking sound.

Rei had just placed Parsnip’s body onto the cart. It seemed as if he was done with the clean-up for now and had started to wheel everything away. Norman caught a glimpse of the revolver on the cart. Did Rei forget it? No, he couldn’t have, especially since Runa said that they were going to do things differently again. For whatever this round had to offer, the gun wasn’t needed.

“This game is going to be a biiiit of a special one!” Runa cooed as Rei passed her with the metal cart, the two of them disappearing into the darkness of the metal door. “It’s not exactly on-key with Russian Roulette, but I still thought it would be an interesting game!”

“B-But isn’t this g-game meant to be purely Russian Roulette? I-I mean, that’s what we all signed up for, I-I don’t think I understand.” Toby asked.

Runa giggled a bit. “If it would be, I wouldn’t have offered you all that lifeline, would I?”

“You make it sound like we’re meant to be grateful for it…” Luke muttered out loud, slightly shooting daggers at her and the dog-based jacket she wore.

Seeing the look Runa was giving the angel, Norman found himself piping up. “A-And we should be.”

A few eyes landed on him, and the white-haired boy found himself being silently asked for an explanation. Norman sheepishly cleared his throat. “I mean… without it, think of Kansai. He wouldn’t have gotten out of here.”

“But we all agreed that we weren’t aware of Kansai’s fate.” Peko objected, to which Norman argued back in his own calm tone.

“Runa said that we could vote whoever would leave alive. ” Norman explained. “She had said it right at the start of that round. That’s more than what we can say about everyone else.”

“S-So… You’re o-opting to t-trust her?” Mikan asked nervously.

“A smart decision if I do say so myself.”

Rei had easily returned, a cart still with him, except instead of a body and cleaning supplies, there were seventeen small boxes that laid resting upon it. Sixteen of the boxes were of the same size with a felted black look to it. The seventeenth box, however, seemed much bigger than all the others, instead being made out of a metal or plastic with a glass opening on the top of it.

“W-What’s with all of those boxes?” Kaya sniffled, still caught up with everything that had happened before.

“Why, it’s for the game, of course! Rei’s gonna pass out a felt box for you all, but don’t open it until we say so! No peeking!~” Runa cooed. Right on cue, Rei began to push the cart around, carefully serving each box onto the plates that laid in front of them.

“I’m guessing whatever is in these boxes has something to do with the game?” Anatoly inquired, to which Runa gave an excited nod.

“This is a game that was inspired by one of the games I oversaw one time! It inspired me so much that I had to recreate it!” Runa giggled, spinning around a bit as she did so.

“Don’t tell me, that game involved death too, right?” Sara furrowed her brows at the girl.

“Well, nobody died, but I guess the risk was still there! This game is called Nim Type Zero!” Runa clapped her hands together excitedly. “If you may, please open the boxes you were given!”

Norman looked down at the black felt box that was settled on his plate. There was another air of dread that was practically wrapping around his neck, but he forced himself to swallow down his anxiety as his hands, albeit slightly shakily, he took the lid off and peered inside.

Carefully settled on a small silk pillow seemed to be a metal collar of sorts. It seemed like it could snap shut in one area, with one end having some sort of keyhole, or so it seemed. The gray, smooth metal still had red and blue exposed wires, which did concern the boy a bit. A small screen seemed to be attached to one side of the collar, although it didn’t seem to be on. On the inside of the collar, Norman could just barely make out a branding: Asunaro.

“Aw, are we dogs now?” Rokuro asked, picking up the collar from his own box and examining it. “These look like complicated dog collars.”

“I don’t think these are made for dogs, my dear.” Victor chuckled mirthlessly. “In fact, these all look specifically made for humans.”

“You are absolutely correct!” Runa chirped. “For this game, everyone must be wearing their respective collar! That being said, please put them on! If you need any help or assistance with making it fit your neck, don’t be afraid to ask Rei for help!”

“What will happen when we put them on?” Norman asked, but Runa only gave him a sweet smile and a giggle.

“Don’t jump ahead too far right now, okay? I’ll explain these things at my own pace!” Was the only answer Runa gave, if you could even call it an answer. Norman certainly didn’t like the uncertainty of all of this, but his worried thoughts were interrupted when a new clicking sound was heard.

Tetsu had already put on his collar, managing to click it shut with ease.

“T-Tetsu-chan-” Sai seemed alarmed, reaching his hand out to possibly touch the other’s collar, only to be stopped by the boy himself.

“Kamiya-san… we know we don’t have much choice…” Tetsu gave the other a bit of a sad and almost hopeless look. Norman felt punched in the gut with those words. Perhaps it’s because he still wanted some sort of semblance of control. The comfort of knowing that at least you chose this for yourself, even if it had a grizzly fate to it. In a way, it had been their own choice. Well, at least, it was to enter this game,

A few more clicking sounds bounced throughout the room. Understandably, some were a lot more hesitant than others to place these mystery collars on. Norman looked down at his collar again, picking it up and fidgeting with it in his hands. The thought of having such a strange piece of technology around his neck didn’t set too well with him. The risks were all too high, and yet…

“Norman.”

Norman flinched upon hearing his name, looking up to see who had said it. To his surprise, it was the butler himself, standing right next to the boy’s chair, one hand placed on the back of it. Rei carried that heavily empty aura as his emotionless eyes stared down at the white-haired male.

“Do you require some assistance?” The butler inquired, and Norman could vaguely understand that it was a genuine question. Norman opened his mouth, although his own voice hesitated, only coming out a few moments later.

“No, no, I should be able to put it on, thank you–” The thanks was more of a force of habit. Should somebody really be thanking the butler for his generosity? After all of this? Even so, even Rei seemed a bit surprised at the boy’s returned kindness. Maybe he was questioning the same thing.

Even so, Norman’s gaze was placed back on the collar. Taking a forced, yet slightly reassuring, deep breath before his hands guided the device around his neck. The cold metal felt jarring; certainly not anything somebody should be used to. He pushed the two ends together until he heard that clicking sound. The collar was on now, and there was certainly no going back.

“T-This is so weird…” Tomoe winced, fidgeting with the device around her neck with nervousness.

“I-It looks like everyone has them on… w-what now?” Kaya asked, to which Runa laughed.

“Well, now I can explain more of this game!” The girl with the canine hoodie clapped her hands together. “As I’ve said before, the game is called Nim Type Zero! Back when I first saw it, it was a card game full of trickery and poison!”

“Will this game have poison as well?” Rokuro asked.

Runa shook her head. “Nnnope! No poison! You see, for that game, the poison was dealt with by needles. I don’t do needles. You see, this is all where my changes and add-ons come in!”

“The cards will still be in play in this game.” Rei spoke up, opening the final box that hadn’t been passed out, picking up a deck of cards and starting to shuffle them. The flipping of the cards easily cut through the air, although the noise was slightly drowned out by the butler’s voice. “There are eight different types of cards, each with a number from zero to seven and in their own color. Each person will get six cards to use for the game, and the cards will be reshuffled and redistributed after each round of the game. During a player’s turn, they must set a card down for me, the butler, to collect, and to announce the number of the card you have given.”

“That’s nice and all, but what’s the goal of this game, exactly?” Miku asked, having raised her hand before doing so.

Rei cast her a glance before continuing. “The goal of the game is to make sure that on your turn, the total number value of the cards doesn’t exceed twenty-five. Even raising up the total number value to twenty-six will cause you to lose and drop from the game. If a player runs out of cards when it reaches their turn, they are safe and are automatically one of the winners, even if they hadn’t dropped a card down. In the end, when there is one player left who hasn’t exceeded the twenty-five limit, they will win the full game.”

“U-Um… I-I’m sorry, b-but… W-what does the winner get, exactly?” Mikan nervously stuttered.

“And that’s where I come in with some information, so you all can put the pieces together!” Runa piped in with an excited grin. Rei had stopped shuffling the cards for a few moments before he continued, obviously listening in to what Runa had to say.

“You wanted to know what those collars did, riiiight?” The girl stretched out her words with a playfulness. “Weeeell, it happened to be made by a company the school works with from time to time called Asunaro. They made these super cool collars that are actually meant for dangerous games like this, but they were never used until today! As for what they do, well, they have various uses.”

She paused before a sinister, malicious grin spread across her face. “Mostly, it’ll help that head of yours come straight off. Sounds fun, right?”

“And before you panic, there is only one way to take the collars off, so it’s not like you can remove it the same way you put it on.” Rei added on.

“I’m sure you can figure out what you might need to do to take it off, right?” Runa snickered a bit.

Norman did his best to glance down at the device wrapped around his neck, but it was pretty hard to get a good look at it. Instead, his hands had to act like his eyes, feeling around before he touched the keyhole on the collar. The winner would probably win a key, he knew that, and if what Runa was implying was the truth, the winner’s key would open the collar, and they would be free from the trap.

“So if the goal is to get the collar off, that means the losers are…” Frisk’s voice trailed off a bit as glances were cast all around the room.

“..It’s a competitive game then.” Sai thought out loud. “Before, we were all at least on the same side when it came to survival, but now…”

“W-We’re all… u-up against each other?” Mikan stuttered out in fear.

“W-With the number values and a-all, we can choose if we want to screw up other’s chances of winning if we wanted to.” Toby pointed out. “So the Sai-Guy is right. This is a game of competition.”

Norman bit his lip a bit. Something definitely didn’t feel right about this, but the butler had already started to distribute cards. There certainly wouldn’t be much room for discussion or doubt, or so it seemed. The game wanted to be top priority.

“There’s one last thing I almost forgot to mention!” Runa chirped suddenly. “The winner, if they so choose, can take somebody with them!”

“That almost brings more pressure.” Norman mumbled to himself. There were a lot of different variables involved with this. There were the chances of each card number, chances of placing down a card, second-winner chances, order of loss… His head swam with all of these different points in this game, trying to swim through a river that was forcing his mind back with the currents. He needed more info. He needed to see how this game went.

“I do believe it is time to start the game.” Rei said, placing the last small row of cards in front of Tomoe.

“W-Who starts then?” Toby inquired. Runa let out a hum of thought, bouncing herself up and down for a few moments before she suddenly pointed at Tomoe.

“You! You’ll go first!” Runa announced with a giggle.

“Not much of a difference, you know. You should’ve just let me start.” Rokuro snickered a bit, causing Tomoe to give him a glare before she looked at her cards.

“If that’s how you’ll play, I’ll start us off with a six.” Tomoe huffed stubbornly, handing the card to the butler with a small smug look.

“Ohoho, getting feisty now, aren’t we?” Rokuro smirked.

“So you’re both just going to screw up things already?” Kat asked with an annoyed tone of voice.

“Hey, I haven’t even gone yet!” Rokuro pointed out before he took out a card. “Besides, I place down a two now!”

“Don’t you have a higher number, my dear?” Victor quirked his eyebrow at the odd move.

“A player never shows his cards, I’m afraid.” Rokuro placed a finger on his lips playfully. “Besides, I don’t wanna screw things up for my buddy here!”

Norman blinked upon realizing that he was the ‘buddy’ that Rokuro was referring to. “Ah, um… Thank you.” Was all Norman could say before he looked down at his own cards. It was a decent hand, he believed, but in the end, he placed down a two. “I’ll also put down a two.”

“I’ll continue this little train we have going on and also place down a two!” Miku placed down the same card as he did.

Kaya hesitated, her expression nervous and a bit pale as she took out a card. “U-Um… seven.”

“Seven already?” Frisk tilted their head curiously.

“That brings the value up to nineteen already!” Luke gasped in realization.

Kaya quickie fretted. “I-I’m sorry, I have a bad hand a-and I panicked!”

“S-Shit, I have a bad hand too…” Toby jittered his hands a bit before placing a card down. “Hope you have a zero, kid. I place down a six.”

“T-That’s twenty-five then!” Mikan stammered.

“I-I’m so sorry, I r-really had no other choice!” Kaya apologized once more.

Frisk looked down at their cards again before looking at Luke, saying a sad “Sorry…” before they placed down a card. “Zero.”

Luke sputtered for a moment, scanning his cards again. “M-My- my lowest card is a five, I–”

He paused, a shakiness in his body before he placed down a card. “...Five. I’m the first to lose.”

“Luke is out of the game!” Runa laughed at his misfortune.

“Aw, poor Luke… You had gotten really unlucky there.” Miku frowned.

“Luke…” Frisk looked up at Luke, who let out a sigh in response. Norman could tell that the angel wasn’t mad, but he wasn’t exactly the happiest either.

Rei was quick in collecting and reshuffling the cards. It was like he had done it many times before, as his hand movements were skilled and swift. Within a moment's notice, the cards had been passed out again.

“That was certainly quick.” Sai commented first, looking down at the cards handed to him. “Do you deal with cards often, Rei?”

“One could say that.” Rei answered vaguely, and Norman felt as if that was really the only answer that would be gotten out of him.

“So, uh… Do I go now?” Anatoly asked. Once he received Runa and Rei’s approving nods, Anatoly looked down at his cards before placing one down. “I place down a one.”

“Just a one?” Sara crossed her arms a bit, a bit skeptical.

“I’m being nice, okay? I don’t want to start out with something big.” Anatoly reasoned.

“That’s one card that has less value that you have now. It may be nice, but if you were to play competitively, it was a poor choice.” Sai confessed.

“B-But who said he wants to p-play like that?” Mikan fidgeted with her cards.

“ If. I said if you were to play. I never said that everyone would want to.” Sai calmly repeated.

Mikan still squeaked. “A-Ah, I-I-I’m sorry!”

“I guess I will go next.” Victor chuckled as he placed down a card. “Three.”

“U-Um… I-I’m sorry… I-I’m so sorry for this…” Mikan sniffled. “I-I… I place down a seven…”

“Are you playing competitively now, Mikan?” Peko asked.

The nervous nurse shook her head. “N-No, not at all! That was my highest card a-and I just wanted to get rid of it, I promise! P-Please forgive me!”

“That’s a smart idea, actually.” Sara confessed as she placed down a card. “I place down a six.”

“Jeez, at least let some of us have a chance!” Kat pouted as she placed down a card. “But whatever, let’s play your game. I place down a seven.”

“That’s twenty-four then.” Sai counted it up.

“It’s not my problem.” Peko said as she placed down a card. “I place down a one.”

“K-Kamiya-san..!” Tetsu’s voice was raised with concern and alarm.

Sai scanned through his cards in thought. Rokuro stared at the boy for a few moments before speaking up. “Hey, Runa! Is it cheating if one was to look at another person’s cards?”

Runa hummed. “Weeelll… I’ll be nice and say no! Anybody can show anybody what cards they have, and if a person catches a peek at another one’s cards, well, tough luck then!”

A sparkle of hope appeared in Tetsu’s eyes as he leaned over to look at Sai’s deck. After a few moments, he pointed to that one. “T-That one, Kamiya-san! That will help you!”

“And your deck?” Sai asked. Tetsu paused before he held his deck, discreetly showing it to the other. After a few more moments, Sai shook his head.

“You won’t be able to continue.” Sai stated matter-of-factly.

“I-It’s okay, Kamiya-san, I-I don’t mind.” Tetsu tried to reassure, only to see Sai shake his head and place a card down.

“I place down a three. I lose.” Sai announced.

“K-Kamiya-san, you had a zero!” Tetsu exclaimed from panic. “W-Why didn’t you use it, you could’ve made it another round!”

“Woah, woah, hold up! Sai sabotaged himself? Is that what I’m hearing?” Rokuro asked.

Sai gave a confirming nod before showing his row of cards. Indeed, he did have a zero. “I do have one, see? But I opted not to use it.”

“B-But why, Kamiya-san?” Tetsu asked, to which he received a calm gaze and a small smile.

“It’s because I don’t want to play competitively.” Sai confessed. “Besides, if lasting another round means to inadvertently betray you, Tetsu-chan, then I’d rather lose.”

“K-Kamiya-san…” A look of guilt settled on the bright blue boy’s face. It was quite obvious that Tetsu wanted Sai to last longer than he did.

“Sai is out of the game!” Runa announced, as if it was something not all of them could see.

The cards were quickly shuffled and passed out again. Sai took a glance at Tetsu’s new deck. Norman could tell that even with Sai officially out, the two would still be working together as a team. Sai eventually pointed to one of the cards, whispering out a suggestion before Tetsu placed the card down.

“I-I place down a one.” Tetsu stuttered slightly, still saddened by Sai’s loss. However, he did seem to be slightly reassured in his choices with his friend’s help.

“I’ll place down a zero then.” Tomoe said as she placed down her card.

“Being generous now, aren’t we?” Rokuro teased the other, causing the girl to stare daggers at the boy, who simply snickered and placed down a card. “Fine then. I’ll place down a zero as well.”

“You’re both wasting your zeroes.” Peko bounty pointed out, to which the blue-haired boy next to Norman gave a shrug.

“Honestly? I don’t care about winning too much.” Rokuro confessed. “We just wanna have fun with this, right, Norman?”

“W-We?” Norman didn’t expect the inclusion, but it did confirm one thing to him, at the very least. Rokuro has the same weird feeling, doesn’t he? With the vague choices and rules we’ve been given, we both don’t know what happens to the losers or the winners. Just the implications.

“I see some of us are working in teams then?” Victor inquired.

“I-I mean… I-It’s technically not against the rules…” Mikan stuttered. “P-Plus, there’s no real gain from e-either side…”

A team… Was he really in a team with Rokuro? It’s not like he minded, but… Norman shook his head a bit before placing down a card. “I have a five.”

“At last, more value has been added.” Sai commented. “Good choice, Norman.”

“And I’ll place down a three!” Miku sang in a sweet voice. “Actually, this is quite fun if you forget about the death part!”

“I think any of this can b-b-be fun when it doesn’t have death involved.” Toby pointed out as Kaya placed down her card.

“I place down a four…” Kaya said. “That makes thirteen.”

“Good thing you aren’t trying to screw us over.” Toby joked, although Kaya’s guilty and hurt expression told him that it wasn’t very funny. Kat glared at the guy, cracking her knuckles a bit. Toby quickly placed down his card. “I, uh- I place down a f-five.”

“I’ll place down a two.” Frisk placed down their card calmly before looking at Luke, who simply gave the kid a small smile.

“It’s a zero from me.” Anatoly stated as he placed down his card.

“And from me.” Victor placed down his card right after before adding on that: “It was the only card I could play safely.”

“U-Um… I-It’s a two from me… I-I’m so sorry…” Mikan whimpered.

“And it’s a two from me as well.” Sara said, placing down her card as gazes landed on Kat.

“Y-You have a one, right? O-Or a zero, Kat?” Kaya asked.

Kat glared down at her hand, mumbling curse words under her breath before placing a card down. “Five. I’m out.”

“You heard the girl, Kat is out!” Runa repeated.

Kaya’s eyes widened. “Y-You didn’t have anything lower?”

“No ones or zeroes. Any other way, I’d be screwed.” Kat groaned. “Fuck this game.”

“W-Well, there’s always next–...” Anatoly interrupted himself, realizing his slip-up in words. Earning the glare from Kat, he glanced down at the ground. “..Sorry. Wrong thing to say.”

“Jeez, all of you are bad at words.” Rokuro snickered.

Tomoe opened her mouth, but Rokuro interrupted her. “Yeah, yeah, coming from a murderer, right? Is that what you were going to say?”

There was a small moment of silence as Rei reistrubuted the cards. Rokuro sighed. “Yeah… You need more originality.”

“Rokuro…” Norman’s eyebrows furrowed in sympathy. His friend was in quite a complicated situation. It seemed not even he could hide that fact.

“Seven.” Peko’s voice cut through the conversation. “We have a game to continue here.”

“S-Six!” Tetsu nervously piped up, slamming the card down as a nervous reaction. “I-I… I place down… a-a six.”

“Nice add-on to the value…” Anatoly muttered sarcastically.

“ I think it was a smart move.” Sai raised his voice a bit, although his tone stayed professional and calm. It was just a lot more firm.

“I got a zero, so…” Tomoe placed the card down before glancing at Rokuro.

“I got a five. That brings it to eighteen, yeah?” Rokuro said as he placed his card down. Now, like clockwork, his gaze landed on Norman. “You got anything for that?”

“I do…” Norman confirmed as he pulled a card from his small deck. “I place a three.”

“I place a one.” Miku continued on.

“I… Um…” Kaya gulped, nervously scanning her cards before, with a disappointed tone, she set a card down and spoke. “It’s… a five. I’m…”

“Kaya’s out as well!” Runa announced.

“You bitch!” Kat slammed her hands down, glaring with a rage at a thousand suns at Peko. “If you didn’t start with a seven, Kaya would still be in the game!”

“Kat!” Kaya stood up as well, mostly out of worry.

“You say that as if I could properly predict who had what card.” Peko stated, crossing her arms and not meeting eyes with the younger girl. “Unless I knew how Rei shuffled the cards, I wouldn’t be able to guess.”

Norman thought for a moment. Now that he thought about it, there did seem to be a pattern here. But he couldn’t jump to conclusions until he saw it for himself. Rei had mixed up the cards once more.

“Shall we continue the game?” Rei asked.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t rush us…” Toby let out a heavy sigh. “F-Five.”

“Six. That’s one more than you.” Frisk said as they placed the card down. Playfully, Toby gasped.

“You’re right! You’re sooo smart!” Toby almost talked in a baby voice.

Frisk deadpanned. “I’m eleven, not five.”

“I’m putting down a one.” Anatoly stated, driving away from that topic quite quickly. Norman noticed how less nervous Anatoly seemed to be with his hand.

“And, like my last time, I’ll place down a zero.” Victor chuckled. “Quite a coincidence.”

Mikan shakily placed down a card. “S-Seven…”

“Well, t-that’s quite the turn.” Toby noted. “G-Got anything for that, Sara?”

With a sigh of disappointment, Sara nodded as she placed her card down. “Zero. I wanted to wait to use it, but I have no choice now.”

“I-I’m really, really sorry! P-Please forgive me, Sara!” Mikan pleaded.

“No, really, it’s fine, Mikan. No need to ask for forgiveness or even apologize.” Sara said. “It was just my luck, that’s all.”

“A three.” Peko placed her card down.

Sai and Tetsu huddled together again. Norman could see Sai’s face twist from thought to worry within seconds. Tetsu glanced down at the ground, biting his lip for a moment before he placed down his card. “F-Five… I got a bad hand, so…”

“Tetsu is out of the game!” Runa clapped her hands together.

Sai gently patted Tetsu on the back. “You lasted longer than me, that’s for sure.”

“Y-You chose to g-go out because you didn’t want to betray me… I-I wouldn’t have made it so far without you, b-but…” Tetsu hugged himself a bit. “I-I guess I wasn’t meant to win.”

“At least we’re right here with each other, okay? Better to lose together than to win alone. It’s all or nothing.” Sai reassured the other.

“All or nothing…” Norman closed his eyes as he repeated this. Zero to seven. The consistency of bad hands. The looks of good hands. There seemed to be a severe lack of hands that are just decent. Could it be that’s how the decks are being made?

Norman opened his eyes, his stare boring right into Rei’s quick hand movements. It was almost too quick. There was no way the cards could be organized properly. They were being shuffled, yes, but the numbers of the original decks wouldn’t be spread apart as they should have. Rei had said that he, at least, knew how to deal with cards. Was that a lie or was this being done on purpose? With an all or nothing method?

“Six.” Tomoe set her card down.

“Youch, starting strong again, I see.” Rokuro nodded to himself before he placed a card down. “I’ll go with a three.”

“Nothing of big value from you?” Sai asked.

Rokuro smirked. “I wouldn’t wanna screw up my teammate.”

Norman paused before he placed down a card. “Six.”

Miku grinned, all too cheerfully placing down the next card, which she announced was a “Seven!”

Toby stared down at his cards before groaning. “I-I give up. Seven. I’m out.”

“Toby is now out of the game!” Runa echoed excitedly.

“You don’t have anything else, Toby?” Frisk asked.

Toby showed off his hand before Rei took it. “My lowest number is a five. I was screwed from the start.”

“That’s the point.”

Norman looked up from his own cards as he spoke, connecting most of the pieces together. “Don’t get me wrong, this is still luck based, but… the decks have already been made.”

Rei paused, looking right at the white-haired boy with the cards in his hands.

“So you finally noticed it too. You’re smarter than your age.” Peko gave a bit of a respectful nod to Norman.

“W-Wait, what do you mean the decks have already been made?” Toby asked, rolling his wrists a bit. “D-Does this mean this g-game is rigged?”

“Not rigged, but it might as well be.” Norman stated. “Haven’t you all noticed all the high and lows of cards? Sai’s words before made me realize that this is an all or nothing pattern. Either they get high cards, mostly five or above, or…”

“ Or they get cards below that, yeah? Best ones being composed of at least three or under.” Rokuro continued on. “Also, this entire time, only one four has been placed down. Can somebody raise your hand if you got a four in the past decks?”

Rokuro raised his own hand, as did Kaya and Tomoe. Rokuro smiled. “Both of you. How long ago did you get your fours?”

“I got mine two rounds ago.” Tomoe confessed.

“A-And I used mine in the round after Sai was eliminated.” Kaya answered.

“And I got a four in the first round.” Rokuro chuckled to himself. “Strange, isn’t it? Four, the basic middle number, being so far and few in between? The key middle number not exactly showing up too much?”

“It could be just down to luck, but so far, these are too many coincidences.” Norman looked over at the butler, who still stood frozen and looking right back. “Do you have anything to say, Rei?”

Instead of a response coming from the butler, Runa began to applaud, giggling and laughing excitedly. “Rei! Rei! They saw through your shuffling style, Reiiiiii!”

“You knew, my dear? Victor inquired, slightly taken aback by her excited reaction.

Runa nodded. “Mhm, mhm, mhm! The all or nothing style! Rei’s specialty!”

Rei hesitated before his hands began to shuffle the cards in his hands as he spoke. “I am impressed. Most people don’t notice the pattern, and if they do, it’s much later in the game.”

“S-So, it’s all rigged?” Tetsu asked. “Y-You choose who gets the h-higher decks a-and the one y-you want to win will win?”

“Actually, quite the contrary.” Rei bluntly stated. “I don’t care about who wins. I use this style to make games quicker. I don’t give specific decks to specific people. I only carefully make the decks during shuffling. If I wanted a winner, it would’ve been painfully obvious already.”

“I know Rei’s style well, and I can confirm, it’s not a cheaters' thing! Rei is in the gray area and isn’t on anybody’s side!” Runa chirped in.

Rei nodded as he began to pass cards out. “In the end, it is all about luck. The moment you see a person put down a certain card, their fate is sealed.”

“But wait, Norman and Rokuro figured it out and told us, but Peko, when did you figure it out?” Anatoly asked.

“I knew it from the moment I saw Rei shuffle the cards.” Peko spoke truthfully. “I’m used to seeing how cards are handled. I knew that something was up.”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Frisk asked.

Peko looked away. “Why would I? This is a competitive game. I have no real intentions in working with people like you all are.”

“So, to you, it’s all a competition…” Miku looked Peko up and down and kept her cards close to her. “..Hm. Good to know.”

“U-Um… I place down a six…” Frisk placed a card down.

“And now it goes up to a nine. I place a three.” Anatoly placed down a card next.

“Looks like Norman’s theory is proving to be correct.” Victor spoke with an impressed tone as he placed down a card. “Two. I have a good hand.”

“M-Me too… U-Um… I-I put down a three…” Mikan stammered.

“Looks like I got the elusive four. Too bad I’m using it.” Sara said as another card was placed on the table.

“Two.” Peko continued the pattern quickly.

Tomoe looked down at her hand before giving a smug smile. “Four.”

Rokuro glanced over his cards before placing a card down. “Six. Nice while it lasted.”

“Rokuro is out!” Runa announced.

“Let me guess, bad hand?” Norman asked, to which Rokuro nodded.

“Sucks to be me, huh?” Rokuro laughed. “Hey, at least you’re still in, yeah?”

Norman nodded, but he couldn’t help but to feel… weird about this all still. Something just didn’t feel right to him so far. A bit of a gut instinct. His eyes glanced down at the collar around Rokuro’s neck. Say, if what Runa was implying was true, why didn’t the collars just kill everyone already? Were they waiting for a special command? Waiting until after the game? There was still no clear answer to this, and admittedly, it frustrated him a little bit. It felt like the girl was giving him a challenge.

Rokuro easily noticed his staring and snickered. “Do you like it?”

“Hm? Like what?” That had snapped the boy out of his thoughts.

“My collar. I look like a real dog, don’t I? Woof, woof!” Rokuro laughed. “Maybe you like dog boys after all?”

“Give me a break.” Norman rolled his eyes a bit, but couldn’t help but to laugh along with the other. A part of him was starting to admire the escapism Rokuro provided, albeit being only temporary.

Rei placed the last cards in front of Norman. “It is your turn now.” He said with a calm voice. Norman could see the wary glances coming from the butler though. Surely, he had realized how smart Norman could be at times.

Norman nodded, looking down at his deck before pulling out a six and placing it down. “I’ll start us off with a six.”

“I go with a zero.” Miku smiled a bit as she placed her card down.

“Zero.” Frisk repeated with their own card.

“Well… Looks like we have a zero train now, huh?” Anatoly laughed softly as he placed down one of his cards. “I’ll also go with zero.”

“I’ll have to ruin the fun, unfortunately.” Victor frowned. “Seven.”

Mikan hesitated. “U-Um… F-Four…”

“I’ll go with a five then.” Sara stated.

“Two.” Peko bluntly added.

“Wh- Hey, no fair!” Tomoe squeaked.

“Don’t you have a one or a zero?” Kat asked.

“No! All I have is this stupid four! And that means I’ve lost!” Tomoe groaned as she slammed down her card in frustration.

“Tomoe is out of the game then!” Runa announced.

“That makes…” Frisk paused to count everyone. “Eight players left, right?”

“Seems like it. So far, we’ve been getting lucky. Wonder when that will change.” Victor pondered out loud.

“Be careful of what you tempt, as you could be next on the chopping block.” Sai warned.

Victor chuckled a bit at Sai’s warning. “Ah, do not worry, my dear. I know exactly what I could tempt, and frankly, I do not care.”

“Aren’t you scared?” Frisk asked.

Victor paused. “..Well, I wouldn’t say scared. I wouldn’t say that I would take death nonchalantly either. I guess I would be… numb to it.”

“Numb?” Anatoly looked at the other. “What does that mean?”

“I’ll… Explain it much later. For now, we have a game to play, yes?” Victor smiled sadly. “I believe you go again, Norman.”

“Ah- yeah, I do.” Norman nodded, looking down at his cards before placing down a “Two.”

“Three!” Miku sang out. “If somebody has a four, we can climb up!”

“I have… a zero.” Frisk stated. “Sorry, Miku.”

“I guess I’ll go with my six then.” Anatoly sighed.

“And I’ll go with a two myself.” Victor said. “That brings our value to the unlucky thirteen.”

“I-I’ll go w-with a zero.” Mikan nervously placed down her card.

“I’ll go with a seven then.” Sara glanced at Peko. “That makes the value to twenty.”

Peko gave Sara a bit of a glare before she placed down her card. “..Six. I’m out.”

“Peko is now out of the game!” Runa repeated excitedly. “Seven people left!”

“You intentionally did that, didn’t you?” Peko asked.

Sara gave a confirming nod. “Sorry, but it isn’t cheating to get a peek at somebody else’s cards. You did want to play competitively, right?”

“..Touché.” Peko gave a quiet huff.

“How does that medicine feel, Peko ?” Tomoe stuck her tongue out at the braided girl.

“Do not be immature.” Norman couldn’t tell if Peko was scolding Tomoe or giving her a warning.

“Wow, look at my frend over here!” Rokuro playfully nudged Norman’s arm. “Starting three times in a row! How lucky are you?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just my luck, I guess.” Norman dismissed lightheartedly before he looked at his new hand of cards. After a few moments, he placed a card down. “Five.”

“Four!” Miku added.

Frisk placed down their card right away. “I also have a four, so I’ll use that.”

“I’ll place down a three then!” Anatoly stated.

“Five. Sorry, sweeties.” He gave a bit of an empathetic look to Mikan and Sara.

“U-Um, I-I’m sorry too… L-Like really, really sorry, b-but… F-Four…” Mikan shrank in her seat a bit as she placed down the card nervously.

Sara looked down at her cards before sighing. “..One.”

“Sara is out of the game!” Runa announced. Each announcement she did so far was full of excitement and pride. “Six players left!”

“I-I’m sorry! I-I’m really, really sorry!” Mikan cried out, tears having already formed in her eyes and some escaping the confines it held. She held her arms up, as if expecting to be hit. “P-Please forgive me! I-I didn’t mean to!”

“H-Hey, Mikan, it’s okay!” Sara tried to assure the frightened girl. “I-I’m not mad at you or anything!”

“Y-You’re n-n-not..?” Mikan sniffled, still shaking a little.

Sara shook her head. “No, of course not. By the way you’re acting, you didn’t have much of a choice, did you?”

Mikan nodded in confirmation. “M-Mhm… S-Still, I-I’m s-s-so, so sorry…”

“Norman, ya’ gotta start us out again?” Rokuro asked.

Norman nodded. “I’ll put down a two.”

“I’ll go with a one then!” Miku chirped. Norman couldn’t help but notice Miku’s luck this whole time. Was it just him, or was she getting good cards so far?

“I’ll also do a two.” Frisk added.

Anatoly fixed his glasses. “Seven.”

Victor softly laughed in response. “Six.”

“U-Um… F-Five…” MIkan stuttered.

Rokuro peeked over Norman’s shoulder to look at his cards. “Hm… I’d go wiiiith…”

He pointed to a zero card. “That one. That’s the safest one, yeah?”

Norma nodded before he placed the card down. “Zero.”

“I’ll also go with a zero!” Miku smirked a little bit.

“Zero!” Frisk repeated as they placed down their card.

“Er… Two.” Anatoly placed down a card, visibly a bit relieved.

“What a lucky guy I am!” Victor exclaimed. “Zero!”

Mikan looked down at her cards, trembling and sniffling before she placed a card down. “T-T-Two..?”

“Mikan’s out of the game!” Runa clapped her hands together excitedly. “Five players left! Things are getting interesting!”

“I honestly cannot believe I lasted this long.” Anatoly confessed.

“I do applaud all of you for your luck and strategy.” Sai smiled calmly. “I guess it makes our final moments interesting.”

“Do… Do you think it’s painful?” Luke asked. “The collars and the death thing?”

“I’d like to think it takes somebody out painlessly.” Frisk tried to assure the angel, as if hoping it could soothe him after his loss.

“K-Kamiya-san, are you sure what you did was wise of you?” Tetsu fretted.

“I won’t regret what I did, Tetsu-chan. I promise that.” Sai wrapped his arm around the other, trying to give some more physical reassurance.

“Opting for mental peace before death… What a smart move on your part.” Victor complimented.

Once he got the cards, Norman placed one down. “Two.”

“Jeez, are you favoring twos now or something?” Rokuro teased.

“We’re whittling down. Starting with a low number is the smartest.” Norman reasoned.

“I’ll go with one!~” Miku sang.

Frisk hesitated. “..Zero.”

“Two” Anatoly added on.

“I’ll also go with two. Seems like we’re all going for your strategy, Norman.” Victor noted.

I wouldn’t call it a strategy… Norman thought to himself as he placed down his next card. “Three.”

Miku hummed out in thought before placing down a card. “Seven!”

Frisk placed another down. “Two.”

Anatoly looked down at his cards, sucking in his breath a bit before placing down a card. “..Six?”

“Anatoly is out of the game! Four players left!” Runa announced.

“D-Damn… And I lasted long too…” Anatoly sighed, resting his chin on his hand as Victor gave a reassuring pat on the back. Even his pet was trying to reassure him.

“H-Honestly, I was betting that you would be one of the first ones out.” Toby shrugged.

“I don’t know, something tells me that he would at least last a little bit, y’know? Maybe near the middle of the game, but hey, near end-game works too!” Miku interjected.

“Jeez, at least pretend to have had a bit of faith in me and my luck!” Anatoly gave a bit of a huff.

“If it’s worth anything, I’m glad that you made it this far.” Victor smiled before placing down a card. “Seven.”

Starting out strong then. Noman gulped before placing a card down. “Six.”

“Two.” Miku added cheerfully.

Frisk thought for a few moments before they made their move. “Four.”

“One.” Victor smirked a small bit, although he was a bit sympathetic as he said, “Got any good luck, Norman?”

“I do, actually.” Norman confirmed as he placed down a card. “Zero.”

“I’ll also for zero!” Miku giggled.

“I’ll go with… Another four.” Frisk said before looking up at Victor.

Victor stared down at his cards for a moment, seemingly in deep thought before placing down a card. “...Seven.”

“Victor is out of the game! Three players remain!” Rune announced.

“Guess we both had fun while it lasted, huh?” Anatoly lightheartedly spoke, causing Victor to smile once more.

“Fourth place. I guess I’ll be quite alright with that.” Victor shrugged a bit. “I mean what else can you do about it?”

“At least you weren’t one the first people out…” Luke mumbled, disappointed.

“Give yourself a break, d-d-dude. I don’t think it matters too much in the end, anyway.” Toby stated.

“Yeah, and at least you didn’t get intentionally screwed over!” Tomoe gave a dirty look to Peko, who did not reciprocate in the slightest.

“I do believe you can let it go, Tomoe.” Sai calmly said.

Tomoe crossed her arms. “Whatever…”

“Alriiiiight, you got this, Norman!” Rokuro encouraged the boy next to him. “Start us out strong!”

“I… Don’t think that’s a good idea.” Norman confessed before placing a card down. “One.”

“Two!” Miku added on with her own card.

Frisk then placed down their card. “Five.”

“Four.”

“One!~”

“Um… Zero.”

“I go with six.”

Miku paused before she grinned again. “Six. Tough luck, Frisk!”

Frisk stared down at their cards, deep in thought for a few moments before placing down a card. “...One.”

“Frisk is out of the game! Two players remain!” Runa announced. “The final player standing will win the game!”

Rei collected the two’s card, shaping and shuffling them around before giving both Norman and Miku the six cards that they needed. Admittedly, Norman felt nervous, not just about losing, but also about winning. This wasn’t right. Something was telling him that something wasn’t right.

“Let the best girl- I mean, person win, yeah?” Miku gave him a smile.

She expects to win, doesn’t she? Norman thought, keeping eye contact with the robotic idol. Not only that, she WANTS to win. She wants whatever prize is waiting for her, right?

With a hesitation, he looks down at his cards. No zeros and no ones.. He bit the bottom of his lip. This wasn’t exactly the preferred deck he would’ve wanted. Even so, he had to start.

“Seven.” He hesitantly started out with. Who would’ve thought he would’ve been up against a celebrity?

Miku placed down her card after him. “Five!”

“Seven.” He placed down another card.

“Ooo, yeah, you got this, Norman!” Rokuro grinned.

“I go with zero!’ Miku retorted, the same cheeriness in her voice.

“U-Um… Three?” Norman knew that this is one of the few useful cards he could use. He was in trouble.

Miku gave a smirk. “Three.”

Norman looked down at his hand. He felt a sense of dread and disappointment when he saw that he could only lose. With a dejected sigh, he placed a card down. “...Sorry, it’s a seven.”

“There we have it, folks! Miku is the winner!” Runa clapped her hands excitedly, applauding the blue-haired winner. Miku stared down at her remaining cards with a slightly empty expression, not saying a word.

“S-So… that’s it, t-then?” Tetsu nervously asked. “M-Miku… she won?”

“And the rest of us… what’s going to happen?” Sara asked. “Are we all going to…?”

“B-But- but the Russian Roulette game!” Luke stood up, a bit panicked. “There’s no way we can die, b-because of the game and the p-prize–”

“Shut up.”

The low growl of aggression seemed unnatural, especially since it had come from the pop idol herself. Miku stood up herself, placing her cards loosely on the table, making them scatter a bit. Norman could see all of the ones and zeros she had remaining.

But, the probability of that has to be near-impossible, right? Norman thought to himself, but he was interrupted when the idol spoke once more.

“Whine, whine, whine, I heard nothing but whining from you.” Miku gave Luke an utterly disgusted look as she spoke, her once sweet voice suddenly slicing through the air with a sickened venom. “I’m almost glad a little chihuahua like you can finally die off and stop yapping.”

“Wh- What the Hell?” Kat’s body tensed up. “What the Hell are you on about..?”

“Did I not make myself clear? If any of you wanna go out on good terms with me, stay the fuck quiet.” Miku snapped at the younger girl. “Did you forget who I am? Don’t you know how much power I have over you pieces of scum now?”

“M-Miku… what’s gotten into you??” Anatoly asked, just as shocked as everyone else seemed to be. “You weren’t this–”

“ Mean ? That’s what you were going to say, right?” Miku asked before she gave the most sweet, innocent look that she could give; the face she wore most of the game. “Mhm mhm! Hatsune Mikuuuu~! Sekaaiiiii! Your perfect, pretty idol who’s just a victim in all of this!”

That expression then broke back to that disgusted look. Her glare seemed to tell everyone that they were all dirt beneath her feet. “I can’t believe humans are so stupid sometimes. Of course, I had to act that way, you fucking buffoon! Because I want to win. I want to get the money and get the fuck outta here to continue my musical career. Besides, who would ever believe anybody else about this, hm? Against my fan base? If anybody else does survive, you don’t stand a chance. ”

Norman could only stare up in shock at the Vocaloid. This was the person he lost to? The true skin and nature of a celebrity so beloved? He was going to die for this?

“Now, don’t forget, you can choose another person to take along with you!” Runa recalled, snapping her fingers as she did so. Rei, taking whatever hint she was giving, collected the cards swiftly before he began to head back to the metal door.

“Oh, trust me, I know. Which means I have all of the power here.” Miku gave a smug smirk as she sat back down her seat, pushing it back away from the table, so she could have room to cross one leg over the other.

“S-So… who would you choose then…?” Anatoly hesitantly asked.

Miku placed a finger on her cheek, giving everyone her best puppy dog eyes. “Well, beg.”

“...Excuse me?” Sai blinked in surprise.

“I said beg. ” Miku’s smile spread to eat from ear, making it a window to her maliciousness. “What, you think your life will be for free? Out of the sweet kindness of my heart? Give me a break! You aaaaall wanna imply that somebody’s life is worth more than others, right? Well, who is it now? Who wants to beg the most for their life?”

“What a cruel scenario you’ve put ourselves into, my dear.” Even as Victor said that, he wore a bit of a sad smile.

“Yeaaaah, well, I ain’t doing it.” Rokuro said simply, shrugging to himself.

“Y-You’re not even going to try-?” Kaya asked.

“Well, what’s the point?” He asked bluntly in response. “Almost all of you hate me for something that wasn’t my fault. Who would wanna give my life any chance?”

“Rokuro…” Norman gave him a look of guilt. How could he not feel guilty? What made it worse was that Rokuro was right.

Rokuro shook his head at Norman. “It’s fine, Norman. I mean, part of it doesn’t matter, anyway. Most of us are gonna die anyway, yeah? So what if I die with a few eyes on me? Honestly, if you put it that way, it makes me sound badass. That’s the way I wanna go out.”

“T-Take me!” Tomoe suddenly stood up, slamming her hands down at the table. She was staring right at Miku with wide eyes. Norman could sense how desperate she was as she cried out. “Please, take me out of here!”

“Tomoe, calm down and think about this!” Sai stood up too, but recoiled as Tomoe snapped at him within an instant.

“Don’t you tell me to calm down, this is the only chance I ever have to see anybody else again!” Tomoe cried, a few salty droplets escaping from her eyes. “My friends, my family, my– my boyfriend , I-”

After a few moments of sputtering, Tomoe practically crawled over the corner of the table, scrambling to reach the idol. Sai reached out for her in vain as other people began to stand up as well, like Tetsu, Rokuro, Kaya, and even Norman himself. Tomoe almost threw herself onto Miku, holding onto her arms with a tight grip that even he could see.

“P-Please, Miku! Please, you gotta take me! Please, please, please !” The girl was practically sobbing, her body shaking as she held onto the other, her voice hitching and getting louder the more she spoke. “I don’t wanna do this anymore! I don’t wanna d-do any m-more child murderers or bunny corpses or blood or jam or- or- or ANYTHING like this anymore!! I’ll do anything to get to live, please!! PLEASE TAKE ME!!”

Norman felt as if he had been stabbed in the chest. Seeing her breakdown to this level of desperation hit harder than he had ever expected. Yet again, what else could he have expected? However, his stomach then twisted as he watched Miku shove Tomoe off of her, forcing her onto the ground in front of her.

There’s a reason people call this a thrill-seeker’s game. He realized.

“C’mon, is that all you got? You really wanna do anything for your life?” Miku asked, a smug, almost sadistic look on her face. “You must sell yourself to my brand. You’re my fan. Mine. And as my fan, you’ll have to devote your life to me. I am your goddess, bitch. So say it!”

Of course, there’s death, thrill, and risk to the game, but that’s not all that’s to it.

“You’re my goddess!” Tomoe desperately repeated. “You’re my goddess, my goddess, my goddess! Please, I’ll do anything you ask of me, just get me out of here!”

Miku ended up laughing out loud, purely entertained by Tomoe’s begging. “Look at you, trembling and weak on the ground! I could’ve convinced myself that you were a cricket that could be stepped on!”

But mentally, what this game does to you… You can truly never go back from it, can you?

Norman watched as Tomoe forced herself to smile. There was a small glimmer of hope in her eyes, one that was desperately trying to grab onto this opportunity. Despite being almost drowned by the tears, corrupted by what they’ve seen, they were still fighting. They still wanted one last attempt to live.

No. Not after seeing those eyes.

“Soooo, will you be taking Tomoe with you then?” Runa asked.

Miku thought for a moment, that smile of hers still staying plastered on her face, as if such a malicious expression was all but odd. “Hm… Well, she had pledged her loyalty… I guess I will choose her.”

Tomoe was breathless for a moment before her hiccups and sobs turned into excited laughter. “Ha… haha… AhahahahaHAHAHAHAHA!! R- Really..!? I- I’m going to leave here..!? A-And I just- J-Just need to do anything for you-?”

“Y-You’re going to throw your l-life away for this..?” Tetsu asked, his expression having shifted to shock and horror.

“Oh, d-don’t act like it wouldn’t be you!” Tomoe cried out. “I- I have to do this! I wanna go home! I wanna see everyone I love again! I don’t care if this means I’ll never have a normal life again, I just want to live! Can you blame me for that!?”

Rei returned before anybody could give an answer. He held a small plate, and from what Norman could see, there were two keys on it, both harboring a black, metallic color. He approached Miku first, bowing down and offering the plate to her.

“Since Miku is the winner, it’s only fair that she gets to use the key first!” Runa reasoned.

“As it should be.” Miku stated, taking one of the keys and giving one last taunt to everyone else before she chose to insert it. “I hope you’ll never forget the queen here.”

Rei took a few steps back after Miku had received her portion of the prize, Norman found this a bit odd, but his eyes were focused on the key the idol held. Carefully, she inserted it into the keyhole and eventually twisted it the right way.

Only, the collar didn’t pop open or come off. Instead, a soft, orange glow began to come from inside of the metal contraption. Miku’s smile faded into a look of confusion, her hands still on the key as the light continued to grow a bit.

“...Why isn’t it coming off?” Miku asked, now trying to remove the key from her collar. However, the key didn’t budge, and Norman could only watch as she got a bit more frantic. Once again, she asked; “Why isn’t this collar coming off??”

“Yeah, Runa, what the Hell’s going on?” Kat added her own question before stopping, staring right at the canine girl. Norman followed her gaze and got a glimpse of what she was seeing; Runa’s own twisted smile.

“I never said that it would come off.” Runa stated. “I never even said that the key would be your escape. Or that you’d live.”

“I-It’s- It’s getting hotter-” Miku said, her eyes widening as she now tried to touch the collar, trying to pull and tug at it with no use until eventually, her hands couldn’t stay on it. Norman backed away with a few others, although Tomoe stayed right in front of the struggling blue-haired girl, eyes locked on the other in pure terror.

Soon enough a steam began to come from her neck and the smell of burning metal pierced through the air. The idol’s cries for help were soon replaced with painful screaming. Even through the cries of agony, Norman could still barely make out the sound of begging.

“P-PLEASE!! PLEASE, GET THIS OFF OF ME!! GETITOFFOFMEEEEEEE!!”

The smell only got worse as suddenly Miku managed to turn, looking straight at Runa’s unmerciful stare. She didn’t say anything new, but the message was there. The idol would not get an answer. Runa would not help her here.

Only Miku’s screams echoed through the room, as not a single other soul dared to move. Her voice began to get distorted, clipping and screeching and deepening at times as she thrashed about in the chair she once pretended was her throne. Norman almost wanted to cover his ears in hopes of blocking out some of the noise. But like everyone else, he was now frozen. There was nothing they could do, was there? How could somebody try to help Miku as her steam turned into smoke without getting hurt themselves? It was a fruitless cause, wasn’t there?

And then, the noise stopped.

And she stopped moving.

“...m…miss… Miku…?” Mikan was the first to speak, her voice so soft that it was almost not a surprise that Miku didn’t respond.

“I’m sorry, miss, but… I believe that she’s dead.” Victor surmised, a grim expression on his face.

“S-So… the prize this whole time was… death?” Luke asked with wide eyes.

“N-No… no, it… it can’t be…” Tomoe finally gasped, her voice shaky as her own body trembled. Hesitantly, her quivering hand gently laid ontop of Miku’s body, causing it to shift only slightly…

…but it was enough for her head to come off.

Short screams or cries in surprise rang out as Miku’s head fell to the ground. Her eyes were wide, but lacked any life they had before. Electrical sparks came from her neck momentarily, the collar now hanging loosely on what remained of it. A bit of a black substance dripped from the wounds of the neck. Tomoe covered her mouth in terror, and unlike many other of her peers, she didn’t reel back completely, her gaze trapped with Miku’s.

“Aww, you’re going to get her weird oil blood all over the carpeeeet!” Runa whined.

“Worry not, I am excellent with bleaching carpets. I can get any stains out in no-time.” Rei assured calmly.

“You better be! Stuff like is ex-pen-sive!” Runa made a small huff. “Plus, our next one could get pretty messy.”

“Next one…?” Frisk repeated before finally shuddering in realization. It seemed like they were one of the few to put the pieces together as eyes landed on Tomoe. The girl in question continued to stare at Miku’s disembodied head, tears trickling down her cheeks before she weakly, and fruitlessly, shook her head.

“N-No… No, I…” She stammered out nonsense for a few moments before she continued. “I’m… I’m s-supposed to live… I-... I want to live, p-please…”

“S-Surely, an exception can be made, right?” Kaya tried. “I-I mean, she begged to be let go, s-surely, she can–”

“That’s not how the rules go!” Runa interrupted sharply. “Miku chose Tomoe to take down with her. Now, it’s Tomoe’s fate.”

Rei presented the plate to the crying girl. “A key for you, my de–”

The plate was knocked out of his hand with a sharp slap. The plate clattered to the ground, as did the key. Tomoe breathed heavily, her panic shown in full force as she stared right at the butler. Rei had seemed surprised for a few moments for such a strong reaction.

“I- I can’t die!” She cried out. “I’m not going to let these stupid collars kill me!! Not after everything I’ve gone through!!”

“I’m sorry, dear, but… Do you really have a choice?” Victor had hesitated to ask.

He had every right to hesitate, especially after Tomoe’s reaction afterwards. “I have to!! I CAN’T FUCKING KILL MYSELF WITH A COLLAR!! ”

Norman felt knots tie in his stomach as he watched Tomoe cry out again with a pure scream of fearful agony. The longer he saw her like this, the more shaky his body felt. The more it felt like he could join her in those painful screams that echoed throughout the room with a dreadful ring. A deep-seated memory reminded him that he’s heard screams like this. Painful, crying screams and sounds of those being desperate to live being snuffed out. He almost felt dizzy because of it.

“Please, if you have any kindness in your heart, spare her!” Sai pleaded. “It’s not her fault that she was chosen!”

“Like I said, it’s against the rules.” Runa stated.

“B-But we barely knew the rules in the first place!” Mikan nervously objected.

Runa simply smirked. “And that’s not my problem, is it?”

“Y-You’re a monster…” Anatoly spat out, although he was mostly scared too.

Tomoe continued to shake and sob as Rei picked up the key from the ground and presented it to her again. That empty expression returned on his face as he spoke with a calm, gentle voice. “I’m afraid you don’t have a say in what you do, ma’am.”

He paused for a moment. “..I’m sorry for–”

“Don’t you dare fucking lie to me!” Tomoe interuptted. “I don’t need pity from a murderer !”

That shut the butler up for a few moments before he took her hand and carefully transferred the key over to her. Norman was surprised that Tomoe didn’t bat him away, but perhaps she was too busy blubbering to do so.

“It’s either this or the other way out.” Rei warned softly. “You do know what the punishment is, right?”

The memory of a gunshot rang throughout Norman’s head at that moment. Yuri.

Tomoe sniffled with an expression that let Norman know that he wasn’t alone in this unfriendly reminder. Like a fire, everyone else was quick to catch on too.

“B-But you can’t just- just shoot her!” Sai claimed. “Please, have a bit of mercy–”

“He’s about following rules.” Peko bluntly stated. “ Not about having mercy.”

“S-So… I have no other choice…?” Tomoe asked.

“There- There has to be another way though!” Kaya cried. “She doesn’t deserve this!”

“How much longer are all of you going to plead and whine?” Peko asked, her voice sharply cold and calm. “Tomoe has no other choice. She’s going to die.”

“Jeez, you’re fun at parties, aren’t you?” Rokuro asked sarcastically.

“Not the time, Rokuro.” Anatoly quietly hissed.

Tomoe stared down at the key, sniffling before she shakily stood up, her hand shaking as she held the silver device that would activate her certain death. Hiccuping at first, she looked back at everyone else, tears and snot smearing her face from her sobs. It wasn’t a pretty picture, but yet again, none of this was.

“This is… T-The last time I-I’m going to see everyone…?” Tomoe paused before a shaky, very-forced smile appeared. “I… I-I guess it is, huh?”

“D-Don’t give us that look, please!” Luke desperately requested. “Please, don’t tell us that you’re okay w-with any of this!”

“I’m not…” Tomoe’s breathing hitched. “But… Peko’s right… I really don’t have a choice… All I can do is… I-Is…”

Her gaze glanced back at Miku’s limp body before it shifted to the key. Norman’s heart pounded out of his chest as he watched Tomoe shakily insert the key into the collar she wore, turning it before a small click could be heard.

Instead of there being a light, the small monitor on the side of her collar suddenly turned on. It’s screen turned on and showed a skull as a loud beeping started to come from the metallic device. Runa and Rei backed away, with Runa gleefully hiding behind the butler.

“It… It doesn’t burn…?” Tomoe noted, trying her best to look down at her own collar.

“What’s that noise?” Sai asked. “That didn’t happen with Miku’s collar.”

Peko suddenly spoke up, a hint of alarm in her voice. “Bomb.”

Heads turned to the swordswoman. “What did you say?” Frisk’s face warped into concerned terror.

“Under the table, now!” Peko commanded, being the first to instantly duck down to seek shelter under the tablecloth.

Instantly, screams started as everyone but Tomoe, Rei, and Runa began to scatter under the table. Struck with a primal fear, Tomoe began to struggle with the collar, as if it was one last attempt to try and live. Norman’s body felt frozen, a million thoughts speeding through his mind. Instinctively, he held out his hand, wanting to help the panicked. However, something grabbed him from behind, practically pulling him down.

“Norman!” That something was Rokuro, who snapped Norman out of it as the white-haired boy quickly scampered under the table as the screams continued a few moments longer, the beeping picking up speed.

Until a sudden popping noise echoed throughout the room.

From what Norman could see, blood quickly decorated the room, colored with different types of matter of different materials, which were all too organic. Chunks of meat and clumps of crimson-colored hair scattered throughout the place within a flash of white. Norman could see Tomoe’s legs, still upright in a standing position until a few seconds later, it was like she had lost all strength and fell to the ground.

Then Norman could see the shredded remains of her neck and head. He could almost see the bones from her spine from his perspective. An eye still stayed loosely attached to the skin, which he could barely just recognize the skin color of. It was that much coated in red. Some scraps of brain matter still stayed as well, but they were much wetter than the rest of the bloody massacre.

Norman’s ears began to painfully ring. His stomach felt tied in knots, tightening and strangling the organ as he felt almost inexplicably nauseous at the sight. Being shot in the head, he could handle. Being executed, he could handle. Being decapitated, he could handle. But this? This was overkill. It didn’t need to happen, and perhaps that’s what sickened him the most. That this could’ve been prevented in a sense. A better way out. A less gruesome way out. At least something that could possibly be, if anything, less painful and anxiety-inducing than this was. What was the purpose of this? Why? Why?

His vision blurred and began to darken. A dizziness overwhelmed his thoughts as he could only stare at the remains of Tomoe for a moment. A sweet, albeit stubborn and desperate girl… Nothing but skin and scraps. In a morbid way, the way she fell was almost funny. If you looked at it just right, it was almost like she had Miku’s dismembered head.

And that was the last thing he thought about until everything went to black.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Norman! Norman! Are you with us yet?”

“I don’t think just trying to talk to him will wake him up…”

“Well, what the Hell are we supposed to do?? We ain't doctors!”

“I-I’m technically a n-nurse… A-Ah, I-I’m sorry, I-I’m trying my b-best!”

“Well, my talking seems to be workin’, as he’s moving, see? Normaaaan!”

Norman let out a small wince as his eyes flickered open slightly, squinting because of the sudden light that had at first enveloped his vision. His breathing hitched at first from the suddenness of all of the light. He felt disoriented and a bit sick. His vision began to adjust as the voices continued.

“A-Ah, he’s awake!” Kaya chirped, a sparkle returning in her eye. She sat on the left of Norman as Mikan sat on the right. Mikan’s fingers were on his wrist, as if checking his pulse. His head was laid on Rokuro’s lap, who looked down at the other with a big, goofy grin. Norman knew that other people were nearby too.

“H-His heartbeat s-seems n-n-normal…” Mikan stammered. “H-He should stay l-lying down t-though..”

“Wh…what..?” Norman blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what was going on, let alone what had happened. It felt like he was just waking up. Was he just waking up?

“Does this mean that he’ll be okay?” Frisk asked.

Sara crossed her arms, staring at the mini gathering from where she was. “I would think so. He was out for quite a bit though.”

“W-Which is fairly serious!” Mikan fretted. “W-When a person faints, it should only last a few seconds, m-maybe a m-minute or so, and maybe on v-very rare occasion, t-thirty minutes, but-”

“And I’d say that maybe we was out for thirty minutes! Rare case!” Rokuro grinned.

“That’s s-still not a good thing!” Mikan sniffled, a bit upset that she wasn’t being understood.

Norman rubbed his eyes, trying to sit up, but Mikan stopped him. “Wait… What happened..?”

“Beats us. After Tomoe… you just kinda collapsed completely.” Anatoly hesitated.

Tomoe..?

…

Tomoe!

That made Norman shoot up, looking around despite Rokuro and Mikan trying to keep him down for the most part. To the boy’s shock, there was no gore. No flesh. No bodies. The only remaining blood was on the walls and the tablecloth. Rei was bent down, currently bleaching something black from the floor. Runa stood near the metal door, watching with the same grin as always.

The collars. The collars had killed not only Miku and Tomoe. The rememberance made him sick, or maybe that was because of how quickly he had shot up after just waking up. Placing a hand on his hand on his head and sharply inhaling, he finally allowed Mikan to gently put him down again. After that, his hand wandered down to his own neck.

It lacked the collar.

“You missed… a little bit.” Kat huffed reluctantly. “Most of the place has been cleaned thanks to the butler… He’s quick… And he and Runa got rid of those god-foresaken collars.”

“W-We were all starting to g-get really worried a-about you though!” Mikan stuttered.

“H-How, um, are you feeling, Norman?” Kaya shyly asked.

Norman paused to think. “Um… Dizzy, I’ll tell you that…”

“Can we continue the game?” Peko abruptly asked. “We were all waiting for him anyways.”

Norman’s gaze landed on the silver-haired girl, who stood away from everyone else, but nowhere close to the canine-hooded girl or the butler. Secluded, she cast no looks at anybody but Runa, as if waiting for the answer to her question. She almost reminded him of Yuri, just a lot more… calculated.

“S-Shouldn’t we be waiting until Norman at least gets a little better?” Kaya inquired nervously.

“We agreed that once he wakes up , we would continue. He is awake.” Peko stated bluntly before calmly walking to her seat and sitting down.

“Jeez, there’s no reason to be so… cold…” Anatoly gulped.

Peko cast a glance towards Anatoly. “It’s the only way to survive as long as I have.”

“Well, you heard the girl! Come on, come on, game tiiiime!” Runa giggled, obviously excited to get the ball rolling again.

“Will you be okay, Norman?” Frisk asked as a few began to gather back to their seats.

Norman hesitated before nodding. Admittedly, it was a bit of a lie, but he wanted to soothe the kid as much as he could. Kaya and Rokuro helped him up carefully. Kat gave him a glare because of it.

“P-Please take it easy, o-okay?” Mikan fretted before she skittered over to her seat. Rokuro headed to his seat with Norman.

“You don’t have to help me, I’ll be fine…” Norman assured.

“Meh. Got nothing better to do.” The boy responded playfully. “Besides, what game would this be without you, hm?”

“H-Hey, Runa… or Rei… was that… necessary?” Anatoly asked quietly.

“Hm? What was?” Runa was forcing him to elaborate.

Anatoly cringed at his own memories. “The collars… The bomb… Don’t you t-think that was too much?”

“Yes, that was much more… gruesome than the previous methods.” Victor noted.

Sai hesitated before asking, “Do you think they care?”

That possibly answered any question that they could’ve thrown at Runa and Rei’s way when it came to morality. Victor’s lips pursed slightly in discontent as Rei walked over to Rokuro, placing down a familiar tray and revolver down in front of him.

“Oh, metal! My favorite meal!” Rokuro jokes, to which the butler gave no reaction.

“Without Parsnip, Rokuro gets to start now?” Luke asked.

“We go around the table.” Rei simply answered. “The other two are dead on this side, so yes.”

“Y-You didn’t have to put i-it like that…” Mikan stuttered out quietly, shriveling up at Rei’s glance.

“Just start the round already.” Peko stated. Patience seemed to be a little thin with her.

“Alright, alright! Jeez!” Rokuro huffed before he spun the barrel and placed the tip on it on his temple.

Click.

He was safe.

When the gun was passed to Norman, he couldn’t help to realize how familiar it was in his hand now. It was a dark, repetitive action now. One that was slowly starting to become natural.

Spin, hold, point, click , pass.

The only thing that went against the routine was the loud, heart-stopping bang, one way or another.

“Y-You know, this feels weird.” Toby confessed. “T-The table seems so… empty now.”

“That’s because it is…” Lucas sadly remarked. “We’re down to fourteen… And we’ll be down many more…”

There was a quick interruption in the start of the conversation as Rei looked over at Runa. “Their tea might be running empty. Shall I go to get more?”

“We’re not thirsty, my dear, don’t bother with that.” Victor piped up.

Rei blinked in slight surprise, as if something Victor said caught him off-guard as Runa answered.

“We’ll get the drinks out after this round, so wait a bit, okayyy?” Runa recalled in a sing-songy voice, which only led the butler to nod.

Click. The gun was passed to Toby.

Toby played around with the revolver for a moment as he whispered. “Why are we getting drinks next round?”

“Probably another game, no doubt.” Victor assumed. “And if it’s involving drink, I don’t particulliary trust it.”

“What, do you think the drinks will be spiked or drugged or somethin’?” Rokuro asked, part of him halfly joking, and the other part of him curious. Norman could tell thanks to the look on his face.

“We can say that the drinks themselves won’t be spiked or drugged!” Runa giggled.

Rokuro then glanced at Rei. “And do you back this up?”

The butler stayed quiet momentarily. “...I can confirm her words, correct.”

“W-Why do I still have a bad feeling…?” Kaya asked.

Click. The gun was passed to Frisk.

“No offense to the girl and butler in the room-” Sai gave a quick glance to Runa and Rei. “-however, I don’t think anything they say can be trusted.”

“Well, what else can we do exactly?” Sara inquired. “There’s nobody else to listen to.”

“R-Rei and R-Runa are our… o-only sources…” Mikan fidgeted in her seat.

“Well.. l-let’s say what they’re saying is true… What does that say about w-what’s coming up?” Kaya placed a hand on her chin nervously, thinking.

“Well, we won’t get drunk nor will we act strangely. All of us will be acting rationally if we drink it.” Sara reasoned.

“If nothing is in the air, that is.” Lucas pointed out.

“B-But if something’s in the air, th-then Runa and R-Rei would be affected too, r-right?” Tetsu asked. “S-So there can’t be anything in the air…”

Click. The gun was passed to Luke.

Sai crossed his arms and his legs in thought. It was like he was trying to mentally play chess with Runa and Rei. Trying to predict their next move. Their next course of action that maybe while one couldn’t prevent, but could instead work their way around it. Norman could tell if he came out fruitless or not in his thinking as he spoke. “I suppose we have no choice but to figure it out when we get there.”

“Wouldn’t that mean somebody dies?” Sara inquired. “That’s how you get to the next round, correct?”

“Well, yeah, no shit, but that’s…” Kat’s voice trailed off, faltering uncharacteristically for a moment before forcing her voice back up again. “That’s what happens in Russian Roullete.”

“Woooow, that’s kinda heartless, don’t you think?” Rokuro smirked, as if a little happy that somebody could be backed into a moral corner. Maybe it’s because that’s what had happened to him.

“H-Hey, leave Kat alone, w-what else was she supposed to say?” Kaya chirped up.

“ Ahem …” Rokuro cleared his throat. “That’s how you get to the next round and we have no real choice in that.”

“I will beat your ass-” Kat stood up in anger, only to be forced back down into her chair by Sara. Not even the ginger wanted to see things get messy, and even if Norman only now realized that he had his arm up so he could protect Rokuro just in case, he didn’t either.

Click. The gun was passed to Anatoly.

“K-Kat, p-please…” Kaya looked concerned, and maybe even partially frightened.

“F-Fighting won’t g-get us anywhere…” Tetsu reasoned. “B-Besides, um… Rokuro meant well..”

“In a weirdly condescending way, but yes, he probably did.” Anatoly’s tone was flat, making it hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

“Can you blame him?” Norman finallt spoke up. “After all that he’s been through… After all that we’ve been through, I think we all have a little right to be at least a little snarky.”

“Do we really..?” Luke almost sounded heartbroken at that realization.

Tetsu hesitated, “I-I suppose, but… more stress and anger, i-it won’t help anything…”

“You are right, Tetsu, I’m just saying, well…” Norman paused, trying to sort his words out properly. “I just think you all are… being a bit too harsh on Rokuro.”

Rokuro perked his head a bit, almost a little confused as they all heard a click. The gun was passed to Victor.

“Being too harsh?” Sara repeated.

Norman nodded. “Tell me.. What do you all think of Miku and Tomoe?”

A moment of silence settled over the table, as if uttering the names of the previously alive was now taboo. Nervous glances were cast around the table, as if nobody wanted to say anything until Norman opened his mouth. “Do you hate them now?”

“Don’t even try.” Peko suddenly cut him off. “I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to correlate Rokuro’s circumstances to Miku and Tomoe.”

“B-But those are very different…” Frisk pointed out. “At least Rokuro wanted to help somebody!”

Sai interjected. “And as twisted as Miku appeared to be, she thought she would be helping somebody too.”

Another pause of silence. Norman can see the gears turning while most of them were hopefully realizing how unreasonable they were being. He couldn’t blame them, since everything seemed high states, and yet, here they were. Norman knew that Tomoe harbored most of her hatred, creating a slight bandwagon, and with her gone… her gone…

Was he really meant to be happy about that?

Click. The gun was passed to Mikan.

The silence continued to hang low, like a tense fog of uncertainty before they all heard the first one to speak.

“I’m sorry, Yamakagashi.”

All eyes landed on Sai, who had his eyes lowered to stare down at the table. A slight look of guilt showed on his face.

“I… haven’t done my best to properly defend you.” Sai confessed. “Within the tension and chaos, I imagined that there could’ve been a chance that you had done such a terrible thing maliciously. But that was foolish of me. I truly am sorry, Yamakagashi.”

“U-Um… I’m sorry too…” Mikan stuttered. “I-I… I-I have no real excuse…”

Rokuro stared for a moment, listening to a few others quietly apologize before speaking up. “So all it took was for my buddy here to say something?”

There was a pause before he laughed a bit. “My buddy really is amazing, ain’t he?”

Click. The gun was passed to Sara.

“W-Will you… ever forgive us?” Anatoly asked.

“I don’t think he has to.” Victor stated. “After all, what we’ve done to him is unf-” BANG!!

A loud bang of a gun interuppted everyone as Sara’s head exploded in a bright red, the crimson splattering onto Kat a bit before the ginger’s face slammed down into the plate in front of her. People screamed. People cried out. The same routine Norman was getting used to. And yet, his stomach still twisted as he watched the body fall right in front of him. She hadn’t even said anything. Done anything. Her last words were just repetition, wasn’t it? A repeat of what somebody else had said.

It was almost fitting.

“S-She’s gone…” Mikan softly cried, having been checking for signs of life as she checked Sara over. “S-She’s… really gone…”

Victor frowned in sorrow. “She seemed to be quite the bright young woman… unfortunate that she… will never see her full potential.”

Frisk looked away, a few tears escaping their eyes. “Why..? W-Why did she have to be the one to…”

“Nyahaha! One down! Thirteen players left!” Runa clapped, cheering with a sickening sense of happiness like always. “Wasn’t she the quiet one in the beginning? Dang it, I hate when the quiet ones die! You never get to know who or what she stood for unless you already knew her!”

Tetsu hid his face with his sleeves, sobbing as Sai held him close. “I-I can’t… I can’t d-do this anymore… I-I can’t just keep seeing them die…”

“Can we continue while Rei cleans up?” Peko broke the cycle of crying and disbelief. In fact, she was the one of the few who didn’t look upset. Merely… annoyed.

Rokuro gave Peko a blank stare. “You seem eager.”

“Are you fucking crazy!?” Kat barked. “A girl just fucking DIED and I’m covered in this FUCKING SHIT and you just want us to fucking CARRY ON!? ”

“The faster we get through this, the less everyone has to focus on death.” Peko snapped back. “Or would you rather we wait and stare at nothing but a dead body being cleaned up?”

“You’re just fucking glad that you aren’t caked with blood you fucking-” In a fit of rage, Kat grabbed onto Peko’s bow, pulling it forward so Peko had to get closer to her. “ARE YOU HAPPY ABOUT YOURSELF ON WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!?”

“P-Please, just stop it!” Tetsu cried out. “P-Please stop! P-please, I-I… I…”

Victor waited for a moment before speaking up. “Perhaps we should save that conversation for a bit later. I’m afraid now isn’t the time for such anger. Have a bit of respect.”

Kat seethed, glaring down at the near-emotionless Peko as she had her free arm reeled back, as if ready to punch her, but having no real choice, she pushed Peko away and sat back down at her seat, arms crossed as her angry gaze glazed down onto the body near her right as Rei approached with the cart.

“Y-You.. You all make me sick …” Kat muttered.

“I’m s-s-sorry… I’m so sorryyyyy…” Mikan sobbed. “I-It should’ve been me… I-I should’ve been the one getting shot, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

“Hey, d-don’t say that!” Luke squeaked out despite his own anguish. “N-Nobody deserves to be shot, this game, it's… i-it’s just cruel…”

That didn’t stop the nurse’s crying. “I-I’m so u-utterly uselesssss… W-What can a n-nurse do w-when people f-face almost i-instant deathhhh…?”

“Well, much better than we can do, we can tell you that!” Rokuro tried to make things a bit more lighthearted, and while Norman appreciated the attempt, he doubted that Rokuro could do so.

“Yeah, Rokuro’s right..!” Surprisingly enough, Frisk joined in on this. “Y-You’ve helped so far, and you’ve been trying your best, so you must stay determined!”

“Reiiiii, can you have them continue please? Their crying and encouragement is starting to get boring now, and the girl barely did anything!” Runa whined. It was a sour note in what was meant to be a hopeful final memorial tune.

The butler simply nodded, standing up from where he was cleaning and placing the revolver in front of Kat. It was her turn now, after all, whether she liked it or not.

“Fuck all of this.” She spat as she turned the barrel. “I’d kill you if I could.”

“I wish you could too.” Rei simply said as he went back to cleaning.

With nothing more than a huff and a look of buried rage, she placed the end of the revolver against her temple.

Click. A lucky first spin. The gun was passed to Peko, although Kat wore a begruding and reluctant stare. As quick as lightly, Peko made a quick spin, placed it against her own temple, pulled the trigger, and then placed the gun in front of Sai within moments.

“P-Peko…” Mikan fretted, but a glance from Peko made her shrivel up.

“..Frisk, may I ask you something?” Luke turned to look at the smaller child beside him.

Frisk looked up at him in return. “Sure?”

“You said that you wanted to win, right?”

“Mhm… I said that I was determined to win.”

“Are you… still determined for that?”

Frisk paused before nodding. “Yes. I want to win. I will win.”

Click. The gun was quickly passed to Tetsu.

“You’re pale and shaking, Tetsu-chan…” Sai seemed visibly worried as he saw the other hold the gun. “You look like you could faint…”

“Can you blame the guy?” Toby rolled his eyes and twitched his neck as he mumbled his words, earning a slight annoyed nudge from Kaya.

“I do f-feel sick, Kamiya-san…” Tetsu stuttered out. “I-I feel sick about all of this…”

“I doubt we can rest in a game like this…” Kaya looked down at the ground, fighting back any more tears. “They just… k-keep forcing us forward.”

“Hey, hey, who’s this they ?” Runa asked, adding herself to the conversation. “I’m not the one who suggested that we kept the game going right after someone died, you knowww, that was one of your own players, nyahahaha!”

“You permitted it.” Frisk pointed out.

“And that suddenly makes me responsible for it?” Runa gave a sweet smile despite her words.

Click. The gun was passed to Rokuro.

“W-Well…” Kaya glanced at Peko, as if considering Runa’s words for a moment. “I-In the end… we’re kind of… stuck like this, right..?”

Luke gave a glare to Runa and Rei. “And it’s mostly thanks to them.”

Frisk held his hand for a moment. “But we’ll get through this… We just have to keep going.”

“Frisk is right. We can’t give up now.” Sai stated firmly, having one arm around Tetsu to comfort him. “What good will that do us?”

“You can say that about anything.” Anatoly fixed his glasses, which were fogged up from tears and his own breathing.

“Well…” Kaya hesitated. “What else c-can they think?”

“More like saying what other choice do we h-h-have?” Toby shrugged, leaning back into his chair with a heavy sigh.

Click. The gun was passed to Norman. He didn’t dare want the revolver for too long, fidgeting with the gun as he worked quickly to spin the barrel, pull the trigger, and place it in front of Kaya. The comfortableness of the gun was making him anxious. He didn’t want to be used to it, no matter how many times he would have to hold a gun.

“I… I can’t believe I’m letting them get away with this…” Luke whimpered.

“What do you mean by that?” Anatoly asked, possibly needing a change of topic.

“I’m an angel… Angels aren’t supposed to let things like this happen…” The boy confessed. “If I do die, it could alert other angels, but…”

“You don’t have to feel guilty, Luke…” Frisk assured him. “You had no control in all this-”

“I don’t like that wording.” Anatoly cut them off. “What Frisk means is… It’s not your fault.”

“Y-Yeah… if you b-blame yourself f-for everything t-that’s going on… y-you won’t ever find the will t-to continue forward… a-and we all deserve to survive… n-none of us… none of us deserve to die…” Tetsu stammered out quietly, resting his head against Sai’s shoulder as he stayed close to the other.

“You’re as wise as always, Tetsu-chan…” Sai smiled at the other boy, causing Tetsu’s face to become a bit red.

“Y-You flatter me too much, Kamiya-san…” Tetsu fidgeted a bit.

Click. The gun was passed to Toby.

“U-Um, I-I have… a q-question…” Mikan raised her hand, her nervous eyes on Rei. The butler glanced at Runa, who gave a nod of approval before the butler looked back at Mikan.

“What is it, madame?” He finally inquired.

“I-It’s about, um, t-the next round…” Mikan failed to get her words out first before blurting out. “Somebody already died, so why didn’t we get to it?”

“I’d assume it’s because Runa would like two people until we move on, correct?” Victor asked, his solemn gaze landing on Runa and Rei.

Runa giggled. “Yup yup! What, we need to cut the numbers somehow, riiight? I mean, listen, as much as I’d like to drag this game on and on and onnnn, it needs to end eventually and we only have so many bullets and items to use! We could’ve, well, bought a lot more, but then outer sources would’ve gotten suspicious, right, my esteemed butler?”

Rei simply hummed in agreement and nothing more.

Click. The gun was passed to Frisk.

“You… It’s like you’re treating us all like the items you c-couldn’t get…” Luke’s tone of anguish and pain was starting to shift into a bit of anger.

“When didn’t t-they?” Kaya asked, which didn’t ease Luke in the slightest.

“Let’s not… think about it that way.” Sai interjected slightly, still keeping Tetsu close to him. “If we go down that rabbit hole.. Nothing good shall come of it.”

Runa grinned, a malicious intent being dead set within it. “Awww, do you want us to treat you like people nowww? Nyahahaha! All of you are just dead weight until one of you wins!”

Norman paused. That seemed a little unnatural for Runa to say… He didn’t know why he felt that way, considering with Runa, any sick and twisted thing within her mind would’ve been normal for her. But this was different… It was like she was trying to get under somebody’s skin. Play and tease with a nerve she found herself poking and prodding under like some sort of parasite.

“Wow, that was a teeny-bit uncalled for!” Considering Rokuro’s comment, it seemed like he had sensed it as well.

Runa swayed back and forth a bit playfully. “Hey, you’re the ones who started talking to me first! Besides, it’s not like you can waltz right outta here and tell it to folks!”

Click. The gun was passed to Luke.

“Be careful, Luke… please…” Frisk asked.

Luke took the gun, staring at it but not saying a word.

Norman watched Luke look over the gun, fidgeting with its barrel. He couldn’t help it but to get a sinking feeling in his stomach. Something bad was about to happen, wasn’t it? He didn’t know how else to explain it.

Rei seemed to notice Luke’s unsual hesitance and spoke up. “Is the gun jammed?”

“It’s not.” Luke spoke with a strangely blunt tone.

“Are you.. Scared?” Sai inquired, to which he became surprised when Luke shook his head.

The angel answered after a moment, “No, I’m just… thinking.”

“Don’t take too long, we want to keep this game going!” Runa warned.

“I know. ” Again, another blunt answer. One with a slight snap as his grip on the gun tightened.

“Luke? Are you alright?..” Anatoly was hesitant to ask, his gaze right at the other.

“The angel’s gone mad.” Kat mumbled.

“How about we take a few deep breaths? I’m sure tension is just… getting to us.” Norman could sense the mild uncertainty in Sai’s tone.

“I’m just thinking .” Luke repeated, but didn’t specify as he looked over the gun a bit more.

“About what?” Anatoly was brave enough to ask.

Luke paused. “...Just about this game. About… everything we’ve gone through so far.”

“It is distressing, is it not?” Victor frowned. “This is… a traumatic event for us all. At least some of us will die with it.”

“I’m not too sure that’s much better.” Norman muttered under his breath. He did understand where Victor was coming from; people being spared from more pain thanks to the sweet release of death, but that way of thinking was forcefully optimistic. People still died with that pain. People were still inflicted with that pain. It doesn’t go away just because a person died.

“I-I wish nobody h-had to die at all…” Tetsu fretted quietly, earning a few gentle pets as Sai ran his fingers through the other’s hair.

“Dying is the name of the game.” Rei interjected into their conversation.

Norman gazed at the butler for a few moments. Name of the game, huh.. A thrill seeker's game…

“H-How c-can you s-s-say that s-so calmly..?” Mikan stammered out, again shriveling up at the butler’s expressionless glance.

Tetsu paused. “..K-Kagayama-san, m-my apologies for the intrusion… but didn’t you a-and Rei speak before? D-During the start of this all… h-he said something to you… w-what was it?”

“Oh, shit, yeah, I forgot about that! Are you two in kahoots or something?” Kat accused.

Sai shook his head. “Nothing of the sort.”

“Then what the Hell did he tell you?” Kat pressured on.

Sai visibly hesitated. “...I’m afraid I cannot say.”

“And why not?” Rokuro added himself into this. “It sounds like you’re hiding some sorta secret.”

“Well..” Sai paused. “I will say it was regarding some sort of personal information I’d rather not share.”

“P-personal information?” Mikan repeated.

“And why should we believe that?” Peko finally spoke up, her cold red eyes landing on Sai.

The boy sighed. “I’m not trying to tell you all that you should believe it, but it is the truth. I don’t know how, but… He knows something quite personal about me.”

Norman looked back at the butler. Rei paused, “..I can neither deny nor confirm this.”

“W-What’s that supposed to mean?” Tetsu’s voice dripped with worry. “What do you know about Kagayama-san?”

“Tetsu-chan, I promise, it’s fine.” Sai tried his best to reassure the others.

“B-But Kagayama-san, if he knows about you, what would he know on e-everyone else? What if he tries to use something against you and-”

“Woah, woah, back it up, blue highlighter!” Rokuro quickly butted in. “What would the chances be that the butler outta all people would’ve gotten all of the correct information on random people passing by in a school festival?”

“Rokuro is right.” Sai stated. “And, Tetsu-chan… I am the son of a political figure, remember? A lot of people invested in politics must know my name.”

Tetsu hesitated. “But d-does he know a political s-secret or..?”

That made Sai pause and now he seemed a bit nervous, now unable to meet Tetsu’s gaze. That gave Tetsu an answer immediately. “K-Kagayama-san… T-This is dangerous, if he knows, t-then…”

“Know what though?” Anatoly decided to be the one to ask. “What could be so dangerous that Sai out of all people is keeping?”

“I don’t think we should be asking that.” Norman quickly gave his two-cents. He knew better than to devolve into more drama, especially when tensions were high. “It’s none of our business, and he should have the right to keep his secrets to the grave.”

“I do see where you’re coming from, Norman, I really do,” Victor nodded slightly. “But what would it matter if it was spilled? Most of us will end up dead anyways with the way things are going.”

I wish you hadn’t worded it like that. Norman thought.

Tetsu opened his mouth to speak, but Sai talked over him a bit. “Whatever it may be, I would rather keep it private, and Rei had already promised that the information shall not be leaked.”

“I can confirm that.” Rei calmly affirmed.

“And you’re trusting him?” Peko asked, perking the eyebrow at the political figure, who gave a hesitant nod back.

“What other choice may I have?” Sai asked. “My secret is only worth my reputation and nothing more. He knows this. Reputation means nothing here.”

“A-And legacy?” Tetsu added on. Sai faltered.

“...I won’t be able to see how my legacy precedes me either way.” He answered. “But I hope maybe you at least will, Tetsu-chan, despite how dangerous our current situation may be.”

“K-Kageyama-san..” Tetsu’s expression softed, tilting his head down. Sai placed a hand on his cheek, carefully lifting his head up again so their eyes would lock. Norman could tell just by how they looked at one another that there were more words they’d wanted, but were left unsaid. The anxiety in Tetsu’s soft expression and the solemn reassurance in Sai’s. It almost made him think about Emma and Ray.

God, Emma and Ray… How long has it been since he’s last seen the two? Since he last talked to them? Have they noticed how long he’s gone? If he’s not there with them now, what would they think? And the other children… What if they missed him? Norman didn’t realize how much he missed them all until now. How he wanted to hug Emma tightly until he exhausted himself. How he wanted to sit down next to Ray and see what book he would be reading again. To give all of the children they managed to save high-fives or forehead kisses or to hold their hands and tell them that it’s all going to be okay.

But Norman couldn’t do that now. What if he can never do that? It’s a one out of six chance of being shot. Just that one sliver of a chance where he can never see his friends again. He’ll never see anything again.

But a shout interrupted him from his spiral, snapping him out of it completely:

“I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!”

Luke had suddenly stood up from his chair, the revolver shaking in his visibly clammy hands. His eyes were wide, its beadiness showing an intensity that Norman hadn’t seen in the angel before. It clearly caught everyone off-guard, as even Rei’s mouth was slightly agape. With a shaky expression, Luke spoke again, his voice risen and trembling with his limbs. “H-Hearing all of this- I- I can’t just stand around here and just watch as everyone just suffers anymore!”

After a quick moment, Rei stepped towards Luke. “I would ask you to sit back down and continue the game-”

Within an instant, the gun was nearly in Rei’s face, causing him to freeze up. A few others stood up from their chairs in a panic, including Norman himself.

“L-Luke, put the gun down!” Anatoly had his hands up, not wanting to get in the way in this driven wrath.

“You! This pain, this suffering! It’s all your fault!” Luke cried out, and even if he was shorter than the butler, the anger and agony in his voice was still terrifying from the previously whimpering and praying ethereal being. “You and that- that brat is behind so much despair and death! What kind of angel would I be staying back and letting all of this happen!?”

Norman had it click of what Luke wanted to attempt here. “Luke, it’s not worth it!”

“Luke, stop it!” It was the first time Frisk raised their voice, trying to hold onto part of Luke’s garments, only for Luke to push them away with one his hands, his gaze focused on Rei.

“By all that is Holy in this world, give me one good reason I shouldn’t shoot you right here, right now!”

“Let’s take some deep breaths here,” Victor tried to reason. “If you try to fight against them like this, the only one who will have lead in their head is you , Luke.”

“I don’t care!” Luke snapped. “I can take the chance! I’ll take all of the chances I can get to end this so-called, sinful, horrifying game!”

Rei opened his mouth to speak, but Runa spoke up instead. “Is that a promise?”

Norman looked over at Runa, who was in the back, simply watching with a grin. Her own butler is being threatened at gun-point, and she’s showing her teeth in a near sadistic manner. Her taste for blood knows no bounds. He thought to himself, the thought itself sending a shiver down his spine.

Luke had momentarily glanced over as well, and had noticed the same look he did. “Be quiet over there, you heathen, else I can shoot you just as well!”

That got an entertained giggle out of Runa. “How abouuuut… we play a game? I mean, you did spin the barrel, didn’t you?”

Norman felt his heart stop. Luke had been fidgeting with the gun earlier. There’s a chance he did spin the gun. A sliver of a chance that the bullet Luke wants to rely on…

“If you manage to get this shot into my trusted butler here, I’ll call this whooole game off. Everyone can split the money, and you can all walk out of here without consequence. However, if you don’t manage to kill my butler, right here, right now, he has all the right to kill you for breaking the rules.”

Luke paused for a short moment, a brief wave of terror swallowing his rage from earlier. He had to have known the odds, hadn’t he?

Rei spoke up, almost nervous, even if for a split second. “Is this really a chance we should be–”
“Rei.” Runa simply gave Rei a look, keeping that same smile. It seemed to shut him up as he looked back at the quivering angel.

Despite the visible panic, desperation clearly took over Luke’s instincts as he straightened his shooting arm. “It’s a chance I’ll take.’

Frisk again tried to grab Luke’s garments. “Luke, wait!”

Click.

Everyone had flinched at the small sound. The momentary relief of not hearing another gunshot was overpowered by the adrenaline that it would’ve been better to have heard one.

Norman watched as Luke’s anger slowly drained from his face, slowly looking down at the gun. The odds had been against him after all. The angel’s breathing began to pick up as he quietly turned to look towards the little girl in the back of the room. With a giggle and a shrug, she said. “Seems like you lost!”

Luke’s expression broke out in pure terror as his head whipped towards the butler he previously tried to murder, but Rei’s reflexes were even faster as he pulled out a gun of his own.

BANG.

Now that was the sound everyone wished they heard earlier.

Luke’s body crumpled to the ground, and the first to his side was none other than Frisk, who knelt down and was almost in shock. There were gasps, there were cries, and there was the influx of panic, and yet Norman was instinctively staring at the child, yet too frozen to move. At least, at the moment.

Frisk could see Luke’s blood seep out of the bullet hole in Luke’s head, which held a golden hue that Norman could barely see from where he stood. Frisk wasn’t shaking, just staring at the angel’s dying form before starting to whisper. Norman couldn’t make out what they were saying until they finally mustered the courage to start to step over.

“You… can’t give up now... You have to stay determined…” Frisk’s voice was a weak whisper. “I believe in you… just please… come back…”

Norman slowly knelt down and gently pulled Frisk away from Luke and into his own arms instead. Frisk placed their own hands, now partially bloodied, over his, which he didn’t mind as he said. “I… I’m sorry, Frisk, but… I don’t think he’ll be coming back…”

“Nyahahaha! That’ll teach him! I thought that Yuri girl would’ve shown you guys earlier not to break the rules, buuut I guess take this as a second warning!” Runa clapped her hands together excitedly. “One down, twelve more left to go!”

“God d-damn it…” Kat covered her mouth, as if trying not to hurl.

Tetsu was sobbing again, hiding against Sai in fear. “N-No… n-not again…”

“What a poor soul… I hope Heaven treats you well.” Victor said solemnly, his gaze sympathetic.

“Luke… why…? I thought you would hold out… like me…” Frisk mumbled. “Then why did you…?”

“He wanted to be a hero…” Norman tried to explain, trying to keep his voice from shaking as he tried to stay calm himself. “And in a way… He is one.”

As the kid in his arms continued to mumble, Norman managed to get a glance at the butler. The butler had calmly put his weapon away in his blazer again, although Norman could note the slight tremble that shook through Rei before Rei calmly picked up the slightly bloodied gun next to Luke, pulling out a hankerchief and began to clean it.

“Rei, you’ll be cleaning that up, right?” Runa asked, her voice all cheerful and casual as if all of that horror hadn’t just happened a few minutes ago.

Rei nodded, looking over the gun before placing it in front of Anatoly. “But of course. My apologies for not stepping in earlier to continue the game.”

“Wellll, you get off the hook for that this time! Only because that whole bit was fun!” The girl giggled in response. “I’ll even be nice enough to get out the cleaning cart while you make sure the game continues! Oh! And if somebody gets shot, get me riiiight away! I’ll be sad if I miss the shot itself, but seeing the carcass will be better than nothing!”

“Y-You’re disgusting…” Kaya hiccuped, nearly covering her face with her hands.

Runa didn’t respond to that, skipping over to the metal door and disappearing through it once it opened.

Rei’s glance then landed on Anatoly. “...You heard her. The game will continue. Please, be cooperative and return to your seats.”

Norman didn’t want to let go of the distraught child in his arms, but he knew if Rei shot once, he’d shoot again. Instead, he carefully helped Frisk up, doing his best to wipe away their tears before helping them sit back down in their seat, miraculously not covered in any of the golden liquid before returning to his own.

Once Norman sat down, Rokuro spoke. “You really like kids after all, huh?”

“I’m… a natural caretaker.” Norman said with a shaky exhale.

“You’re pretty good at it considering your age. You said before you dealt with them?”

Norman nodded. “Yeah, my whole life…”

Rokuro chuckled, although Norman couldn’t tell if it was forced or not. “And I was an only child. Damn, that almost sounds sad, but hey, I have all the time I want on my Playstation.”

Norman could only flash a soft, forced smile. He knew Rokuro was just trying to cheer him up, but it was just too soon. Too sore.

Click. Anatoly reluctantly passed the gun to Victor.

Tetsu was still sobbing into Sai, mumbling how much he couldn’t deal with all this. Sai did his best to hold him close, but Tetsu’s tears almost seemed relentless as Tetsu finally spoke. “I-I’m not… strong enough for this…”

“Then hope you die next.” Peko stated bluntly.

“My, my, that’s kind of cruel, don’t you think?” Victor raised an eyebrow.

“I see it more as a favor.” Peko stated. “If he can’t handle the stress of living in this game, being released by death would be a godsent.”

“Do you believe you can handle the stress then?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here, now would I?”

“Hm. Touche.”

Click. The gun was passed to Mikan.

That’s when Runa had returned with the cleaning cart and supplies. She looked around and almost seemed disappointed when no other casualties had happened. “Already, it all looks so boring.”

Rei gently took the supplies from Runa and began to clean up Luke’s body, inquiring. “You’re bored already?”

“I wanted at least a third body to spice things up, buuut we do have that other stuff in the back that reminded me…” Runa hummed, almost pouting as she thought before speaking. “Okay! Change of plans! After Mr. McBlue over there finishes up his turn, then this round will conclude and we’ll move onto the next round!”

“S-S-So n-nobody else would have t-to die on o-order for u-us to g-g-go into the n-next round..?” Mikan stuttered out, her words nearly inrecgonizable with her jittery voice. She flinched visibly when Runa looked at her.

“Mhm! So try not to die if you can help it!~” Runa sang out before laughing at her own twisted joke.

“G-Great, more pressure on us.” Toby twitched, clearly annoyed.

“All we can wish for is luck on our side then…” Sai tried to stay composed, still holding his dear friend close.

Click. The gun was passed to Kat.

Sai looked down at the crying Tetsu. “Hey, it’s going to be okay…”

“I-I never wanted all of this to happen…” Tetsu hiccuped, barely able to look up at the other.

“None of us fucking wanted it to happen, jackass!” Kat snapped.

“Kat!” Kaya scolded quickly despite her own grievances.

Kat paused, hesitating before backing off with a sigh. “...Sorry. This is all just so- so fucking stressful.”

“Every one of us is stressed… It’s impossible not to be.” Norman stated.

“At least we have an example on why we shouldn’t let anger consume us.” Victor pointed out.

Not the time, Victor. Norman thought. Not the time right now…

Click. The gun was passed to Peko.

Toby leaned back in his chair, glancing at Frisk. “Sooo… How are ya’ holding up?”

“Er… I think it’s too soon to ask…” Kaya softly spoke up.

Frisk hadn’t answered, so Kaya was most likely right. They had just started watching Luke’s body roll away on the cart, as Rei was pushing it out of the room.

“Hey, if y-you and I survive this game, I-I have a guy that’d love to meet you.” Toby casually tried to give Frisk a pat on the back, who gave not much reaction back.

“And what guy do you know? Some sort of creep?” Kat’s eyes narrowed.

“He’s not a creep! Well, maybe he kind of is one, but probably n-not in the way you’re thinking of!”

“Nobody in their right fucking mind asks a grieving child to go see an older guy, asshole.”

Click. The gun was passed to Sai.

“It’s different! He would never stoop that low! I don’t even think he can feel, honestly. G-Get your mind out of the gutter..”

“Well, sorry for being worried about a fucking child, you–”

“That’s enough.” Peko cut in. “Your comments are unnessacary.”

“Your face is unnecessary!” Kat quickly snapped back, a bit caught off-guard.

Peko glanced at the other. “...Seriously? How mature.”

“Oh, fuck you!” Kat crossed her arms and looked away.

“...I’ll assume that’s a no on the meeting th-thing then.” Toby rubbed the back of his head before twitching his neck.

Click. The gun was passed to Tetsu.

Now, this was different. All eyes were on him. Norman only had to glance around to see that. After all, he was the last person. A last chance to live or die.

Tetsu clearly didn’t like the attention, still sniveling and trembling as Sai carefully put the gun in his hands. “It’s okay, Tetsu-chan,” He reassured. “Nothing bad is going to happen.”

“I… I-I’m still so scared, Kamiya-san…” Tetsu confessed.

“We’ve lasted this long, and we can last longer.” Sai did his best to assure. “Do you trust me, Tetsu-chan?”

Tetsu seemed hesitant, but managed to nod as he shakily spun the barrel.

Norman couldn’t help himself to feel sympathetic, but also anxious. What if Tetsu snapped like Luke did? What if he made that same mistake? If Luke thought it was worth it, would he as well?

No, Tetsu isn’t like that. There’s multiple factors to all of this. Tetsu isn’t the type of person to do that… is he?

Before Norman could giving it more thought, Tetsu had placed the gun against his temple and pulled the trigger.

Click.

The round had ended.

Chapter Text

“Nyahahaha! This round has officially ended!” Runa excitedly bounced up and down, spinning around on one foot happily before looking at Rei. “That means you can get the snack and drink cart now!”

Rei gave a nod of understanding, calmly collecting the revolver from Tetsu’s hands, who immediately retreated back to Sai, before calmly heading out of the room.

“I-Is this… a s-snack break?” Mikan asked, before pausing and squeaking. “P-Please don’t make us eat weird stuff like cockroaches! T-They taste s-s-so gross!”

“Do I dare ask how you know what a cockroach tastes like?” Anatoly nearly gagged answering that.

“A-Ah, w-w-when I was younger, people would like to corner me in the c-cafeteria and make me eat bugs…” Mikan hesitantly sputtered out. “N-None of which were very unhealthy, e-especially cockroaches, a-as they can lead to serious infections and–”

“I don’t think I would like to- um- hear about this anymore.” Kaya swallowed, feeling a bit sick at this topic.

“I-I’m sorry!” Mikan instantly cried out. “I-I can shut my mouth for the rest of the game! I-I can do that!”

“Mikan, that sounds horrible, I’m so sorry that had happened to you.” Norman sympathetically added himself in. He was happy he never had to deal with that at the orphanage, although worse things had been going on there.

“I-It’s okay, a-at least they were vegan, I-I think..” Mikan fidgeted in her seat uncomfortably.

“No, they are not. You just need therapy.” Anatoly said as he fixed his glasses.

Mikan let out another meek apology as she put her hands together. “I-I’m so sorry, I-I’m so stupid!”

I feel bad for her… She seems to mean well, she’s just stuck in this awful situation. Norman thought to himself, watching the poor nurse squirm in her seat.

“I knew we were getting drinks, but Runa al-also said snacks, yeah?” Toby asked. “What kind of snacks do you think they have?”

“That’s the first fucking thing you think about?” Kat asked bitterly.

“I-I’m hungry, sue me!” Toby put his hands up. “Besides, you can’t t-tell me you’re not curious too!”

“How can anybody be hungry after… all this?” Sai was hesitant to ask, as if he didn’t want to know the full answer.

“Does that really matter at this point?” Rokuro butted in. “Either way, whether we’re starving or full to the brim, the girl’s probably gonna make us eat something, yeah?”

Victor glanced at Runa. “Can you confirm this?”

Runa snickered a bit, covering her mouth with her hand. “I guess I can say that this’ll be more about the drinking rather than the eating! The snacks are considered, let’s say, a nice bonus!”

“A nice bonus? For what exactly?” Peko pressed on to get more answers.

“Possibly for surviving this long, my dear,” Victor stated. “Although I doubt a simple pastry can do all of this damage.”

Part of me wishes it could. Norman couldn’t help but to think to himself. But that’d be too easy, wouldn’t it?

Rokuro seemed to notice the look on Norman’s face and spoke up. “What’s your guess on the snack?”

“My guess?” Norman blinked, taking a moment to process his question. “Well… I’m not sure. Why would it matter?”

Rokuro hummed before speaking. “I dunno. But it’s still fun to think about! For me, personally, chocolate chip cookies are my guess! They’re, like, the best type of cookie, after all!”

That caused a small giggle to escape Norman. “Is that so?”

“Known fact! Not a cookie fan?”

“I never had that many cookies before,” Norman admitted. “Actually, I haven’t had many desserts before… So I guess the food I would be thinking of wouldn’t be something sugary or sweet. It’d be more of a meal.”

“Oh? Do tell.” Rokuro pressed on, a slight smile on his face.

“Well… I’d have to go with my favorite, chickpea and meat stew.”

“Ewww, chickpea??” Rokuro playfully stuck his tongue out. “Sounds gross! You must be crazy if you like chickpea!”

“Then I guess I’m crazy then.” Norman chuckled to himself a bit more. However, his laughter was interrupted when Rei returned to the room, pushing a small cart of snacks, a water pitcher, as well as what looked to be some sort of PEZ dispenser. The snacks were in bowls and all seemed pretty basic: nothing significant, just some chocolates, some nuts, and simple mints. Finger foods, at best. 

Once at the table, Rei carefully placed the bowls on the tables, presumably for it to be a grab-free-for-all before he started to collect everyone’s teacups, instead replacing them with empty glasses.

“We’re not having tea this time after all?” Anatoly asked, before pausing and asking another question. “Are the snacks vegan?”

“I’m afraid the chocolates are not, but by all means, the nuts and mints are.” Rei paused before saying. “I do hope nobody here has a peanut allergy.”

Norman looked around, and with nobody speaking up to confirm if they did, Rei continued to replace the teacups.

“We’ll all be having these and water then? Just that?” Sai, needless to say, was a little suspicious.

“Oh, please, it’s never that easy! Just give us the twist already!” Rokuro huffed.

“You’re no fun! So impatient!” Runa stepped over to the food cart and took the PEZ dispenser-likedevice off of it, holding it up in the air. “Well, for this round, this lil’ thing will be coming into play!”

“...A candy dispenser?” Peko crossed her arms.

“It’s more than just a candy dispenser! In fact, this is a pill dispenser!” Runa corrected. “Once Rei’s done passing out the glasses, you all will get a colored pill!”

Sai sat up a bit. “Don’t tell me… The pills are poisonous, isn’t it?”

“Well, your head is in the right direction, nyaha! You see, most of these pills are just like Kool-aid food coloring! They just color your water and make it taste good, like fruit punch! The poisonous pill, however, has no taste to it, but dyes the water a color too! It’s fast-acting as well! The moment it’s in your system, you’ll be dead after a minute or two!”

“So, it’s all by random chance then? How is that fair?” Anatoly inquired. “You’re just passing out pills and by chance, somebody will die!”

“It’d be too simple if we just let it run wild!” Runa pointed out. “Sooo, once you all get your pills, you can trade with other players!”

“Trade?” Norman repeated. “You mean, trade with other player’s pills?”

“Ding ding ding, we have a winner!” Runa cheered. “Yup! You all can pass your pills around, and you all have a set time to do it! In the end, everyone should have their own pill to try with your water!”

“A-And we could keep our own pill once we receive it?” Toby asked.

“Mhm! Just as long as everyone has a pill, that’s all that matters! That is, if you really trust what you’re getting, after all!”

“So while still c-chance, it’s also trust…” Kaya spoke to herself. “You don’t know if what you’re getting is the poisonous pill or not, and…”

“...If the person giving you the pill is actually going to poison you and not even know it.” Norman finished off her thought. It was another terrifying concept, really. Trace the trades back far enough, people could accuse each other as being a murderer. But Norman knew who the real murderer was though: Runa. It always has been for being behind this whole curse.

“Rei, are all the glasses put out now?” Runa asked.

Rei nodded, to which she said. “Then you can distribute the pills then!”

With that, the butler carefully took the device from her and began to distribute the pills, dispensing one pill before putting it next to everyone’s glass. Norman took note of each pill’s colors:

Blue, gold, dark blue, light red, white, dark red, grey, pink, green, purple, light pink, salmon.

“Please, avoid consuming the pills without water. The poison could easily burn your tongue if you get it.” Rei stated as he dispensed the last pill and gave it to Tetsu.

“The poison is corrosive?” Anatoly’s eyes widened.

“Potentially, if what I’m hearing is correct,” Victor confirmed. “More of the reason to hope you don’t get unlucky.”

“How much time do we have until we have to get settled on these pills?” Kaya asked.

“I’ll give you around fifteen to twenty minutes, as it shouldn’t be that hard to lock in on what pill you want!” Runa said, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. “So, good luck, everyone! Nyahahaha!”

And with that, it felt like the round officially began.

“I-I can’t tell w-what kind of pills t-these are…” Mikan fretted, examining the pink pill she had. “A-Ahhh, I’m totally u-uselesssss!”

“Maybe you can trade with mine..?” Frisk offered. “It’s white, so maybe it’s easier to see…”

“W-Well… I-It’s w-w-worth a try…” Mikan meekly handed over the pink pill and Frisk gave her the white.

Mikan and Frisk have traded.

Rokuro leaned over to try and look at the white pill. “Any luck?”

“Well, settle down, my dear, she only just got it.” Victor chuckled to himself. “I suppose while she does that, the rest of us can get to trading, yes?”

“M..Maybe we should avoid the unnatrually colored ones..?” Tetsu nervously suggested. “I mean… drink colorings are usually made for kids, so they’re bright and cheerful and stuff… plus, usually the colors match a flavor, right?”

“Y-Yeah, like how this can be blueberry!” Kaya showed her dark blue pill.

“But then wouldn’t this also be blueberry?” Rokuro asked, showing his own blue pill.

“Plus would this be strawberry or cherry?” Toby squinted at his red pill.

“The point is-” Anatoly interjected. “-some of these color-to-flavor can’t be explainable.”

“Who has unnatural coloring then? Raise your hand if you do.” Sai requested. Norman’s hand immediately went up. After all, a golden pill didn’t seem too appeitizing. Victor put his hand up too. They were the only two to do so at first until Mikan nervously put her hand up.

“I-I don’t think white is n-natrual… I-I’m sorry, am I too late?” Mikan sniffled, already somehow on the verge of crying.

“Everyone else is a reasonably natural color… and out of all of us, I’m the one who’s pill seems the most unnatural.” Norman gulped, unsure of how he felt about this. This could be such a red herring, but at this point, who was to tell?

“Is that glitter in it?” Anatoly squinted while fixing his glasses. “It looks sparkly.”

Sai thinks for a moment before saying. “Norman, how about we trade pills?”

Norman looked over at Sai. “Are you sure? So far, my pill seems the most suspicious–”

“It is fine. It is up to you, after all.” Sai interrupted, trying to reassure him. Norman was hesitant before nodding.

Sai and Norman have traded.

“How can you even trust it?” Kat asked.

“I can’t,” Sai answered truthfully. “But you also can’t trust any other pill.”

“A-And I still haven’t figured out what k-kind of pill this is…” Mikan stuttered out, staring dejectedly at the pill she had. “I-I’m so uselessss…”

“It’s okay, these all look weird anyways…” Frisk mumbled to themselves.

“U-Um, Kamiya-san? Could we trade?” Tetsu offered.

Sai seemed hesitant, but nodded. “Of course, Tetsu-chan.”

Tetsu and Sai have traded.

“Well, since we’re doing more tradinggg, Kaya! Gimme that blue pill!” Rokuro grinned.

“Why do you want this one?” Kaya asked.

“Well, what’s the difference? We both got blue, your’s is just darker.” He pointed out.

“Well… I-I guess you’re right.” Kaya fidgeted with her pill a bit. “O-Okay, we can trade..”

Rokuro and Kaya have traded.

“Victor, you and me?” Anatoly offered.

“Are you sure you’d like to trade with me? My pill does look quite suspicious, admittedly.” Victor stated, although kept a relaxed smile on his face as he spoke.

“Well, I can take the chance. It could be something to fake us out.” Anatoly reasoned, but even Norman could tell that he knew his reasoning was flimsy.

Victor hummed before saying. “Well, alright then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Anatoly and Victor traded.

“U-Um, I could actually t-take the pill if you d-don’t want it, A-Anatoly…” Mikan stuttered. “I-I can’t figure out anything with this white pill a-anyways…”

Anatoly seemed hesitant, but did nod. “Sure, why not?”

Mikan and Anatoly traded.

“Am I seriously the only one who hasn’t traded yet?” Kat huffed.

“Would you like to trade with me, Kat?” Sai politely offered.

“That’s the thing, I don’t think I want to trade with anybody. All of you are just handing these around all willy-nilly.” Kat claimed.

“Peko hasn’t traded pills with anybody either..” Kaya realized.

“I have faith in what was given to me.” Peko stated, keeping her arms crossed and her expression distant.

“A-Are you really that confident..?” Mikan seemed worried to say the least.

“That, or she really distrusts us that much.” Victor chuckled to himself. “Although, perhaps it’s a bit of both.”

Victor then paused, thinking for a few moments. “...Admittedly, something troubles me about all this.”

“A-About the possible poisoning?” Tetsu tried to get clarification, and clarification he did get.

“No, about this whole ‘game,’ if you can even call it that,” Victor stated. “This event going on reminds me of something that happened only a few months ago, the more that I think about it.”

“Care to elaborate?” Surprisingly, Peko seemed interested as well.

“Well, my husband is a lawyer, and recently came across a gruesome case that he had wanted to take, but couldn’t thanks to a few… complications.” Victor frowned when he said that before continuing. “I managed to read a bit of the case. A few months ago, a bunch of different people in various backgrounds had been murdered in the same time frame. The only survivor was never disclosed in the documents nor to the public.”

“You’re only telling us now!?” Anatoly’s eyes widened.

“My apologies, my dears, but it has been hard to think in stressful times like these.” Victor apologized. “Not much detail was given with what I read, but this situation seems eerily familiar to this one.”

“W-Was it a-also held here..?” Mikan asked weakly, clearly sounding horrified.

“It couldn’t have been, this school would’ve been shut down, right?” Anatoly suggested.

“I don’t believe it was, however I do think there was a suspected link to this school. It was at least mentioned once in the documents, but I don’t think any leads were really made on it.” Victor mentioned.

A horrific group of homicides with the victims coming from different backgrounds with a link to this school… It’s all too much to be a coincidence. Norman glanced down at the table as he thought. I bet Victor thought of the same thing. If Runa is behind this game, is she behind the other one? Or was it somebody else? What other connections are there?

“...Ey, Runa! Have any input on this?” Rokuro suddenly called out.

All attention then went to the small host now. She was chewing on a lollipop, and she visibly paused, as if not expecting him to ask such a question. She pushed the lollipop to the side with her tongue before speaking. “What, about the crime thingie a few months ago? Press talked allll about it, it’s like it’s all people had to talk about, especially here at school!”

“Should we really be addressing this currently?” Rei spoke up, but once glance at Runa made him clear his throat. “My apologies, miss. I only question it since it may sidetrack things a little.”

“I think we deserve some answers…” Frisk pressed on. “After everything so far… Can’t we know a few things?”

Rei opened his mouth to object, but Runa spoke up instead. “Well, I guess I could answer one or two questions! Only because I’m feeling nice and I have candy!”

“Then tell us, are you involved with whatever happened a few months ago?” Sai got straight to the point.

“Hm…” Runa hummed, tapping her cheek a bit as she thought before saying. “Yes and no!”

“What does that mean?” Frisk asked.

“Well, our student council was involved with that game, but… Not in the way you’d think.”

Norman paused, thinking before making an assumption. “...Were some of your members part of that game?”

Runa giggled a bit. “Well, that’s one way to put it! Only one was, and she’s not with us anymore!”

Something about how she stayed cheerful with even that made a chill run down Norman’s spine. She really didn’t care at all, did she?

“It is quite the tragedy, really.” Rei took off his glasses, cleaning them a bit with a handkerchief he got out of his blazer pocket. “She was a lovely young lady to be around. She didn’t deserve the fate that game gave her.”

“Well, wouldn’t you know that better than anyone?” Runa asked with a smile. Rei glanced at her before looking back at his glasses, not having an answer to that as he put his glasses on again.

“Anywayyys, that’s all I feel like answering!” Runa stated.

“We only got to ask one question.” Peko pointed out coldly, her expression mimicking the displeasure she felt.

Runa playfully bites the lolipop still in her mouth. “I said I would answer one or two things! I never promised that I would answer more than one!”

“P-please, just one more?” Tetsu pleaded slightly. “We a-all have many more questions, and if most of us are going to die, we–”

“Tetsu-chan.” Sai put a hand on Tetsu’s shoulder. “I don’t think we can press further on this.”

“I hope she chokes on that goddamn lolipop.” Kat grumbled, almost gritting her teeth.

“You guys have only a few minutes left until you guys can’t exchange pills anymore! If you want to trade pills, better be quick!~” Runa cooed.

“W-We’ve been talking for that long?” Kaya looked startled, to say the least.

Kat groaned before standing up, holding up her pill. “Who wants to trade with me?”

Norman blinked. “I thought you didn’t want to trade with anybody–”

“Shut up, Norman.” She snapped at him.

“Well, I would’ve offered to trade with you…” Norman rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Kat visibly became flustered at that. “Well- I- Just give me your goddamn pill and I’ll give you mine, okay?”

Kat traded with Norman.

“Um, Peko? Could I trade with you?” Kaya meekly requested.

Peko blankly stared at her, giving her a blunt. “No.”

Rokuro whistled. “Really sticking with your guns, huh?”

“I already said that I trust what was given to me,” Peko reminded him. “And thus I have no interest in trading with any of you.”

“Partypooper…” Toby sighed before saying. “Yo, Sai! T-Tradesies?”

Sai shook his head. “No thank you, I’m fine.”

“Aw, c’mon, I gotta tr-trade with someon-one!” Toby threw his hands up a little.

Anatoly raised his hand. “I’m closer to you. We could trade?”

Toby smacked his lips audibly under the bandana he wore. “Welp, I guess you’ll do!”

Toby traded with Anatoly.

“N-Norman?” Norman’s attention was driven to Mikan. “I-I know this seems b-bad, but… c-could we trade? Y-You can trade it to somebody else afterwards, a-and it’s okay if you s-say no, I-I’m sorry that I suggested it!”

As much as he wanted to, he didn’t trust the grey pill completely. “Sorry, Mikan, I think I’ll pass on that offer.”

“I could trade with you though!” Rokuro piped in.

“Or me, I wouldn’t mind trading with anybody.” Victor added.

“N-No, I can shut up, I-I’m sorry..” Mikan whimpered a bit, her demeanor small and pathetic. “I-I’ll never trade anything with anybody againnnn…”

“You really don’t have any backbone, do you?” Peko sighed, although didn’t seem annoyed, just disappointed.

“Kat!” Frisk waved their hand to get her attention. “Trade?”

Kat sighed. “Sure, I guess, give it here.”

Frisk and Kat traded.

“Great, now I have a different pink pill.” Kat looked over the tiny object in question.

“Didn’t you want to trade with me?” Frisk asked.

“I never said that, I’m just saying,” The girl responded defensively. “It’s just, y’know, girly. A little more so because it’s a darker color, but still.”

“My dear, did you look at me?” Victor laughed. “I wear mostly pink. It’s not a girly color at all. Genders and colors aren’t assigned natrually.”

“Kat, do you want my blue pill?” Kaya offered.

Kat paused before saying. “Sure, okay, yeah.”

It was a contrast with how Kat traded with the others. Not as much hesitation or aggression, almost instant. Yet again, these two were in the same club together, right? So maybe Kat did have a soft spot for her friend.

Kaya traded with Kat.

“Actually, could I have the pink one, Kaya?” Anatoly asked, to which Kat gave him a glare, although he visibly tried to ignore it.

“No thank you, Anatoly, I’m quite happy with this pill!” Kaya declined.

Rokuro scanned the table before looking at Tetsu. “Wanna trade?”

Tetsu hesitated, glancing at Sai, as if looking for approval. When Sai nodded, Tetsu looked at Rokuro. “U-Uh, sure…”

Rokuro traded with Tetsu.

Rokuro then looked at Norman. “Check it! I got your golden pill!”

“Is that seriously all you wanted?” Norman asked.

“Nah, I just thought it was cool!” He grinned in response. “Speaking of… Let’s see who I can trade this with.”

“Of course you're giving it away once you show me.” Norman couldn’t help it but to smile a little.

“Hey, Toby! I got a gold pill! Almost like treasure, yeah?” Rokuro snickered.

“W-Why would I care about treasure?” Toby asked.

“I dunno, you seem like the treasure guy!”

Toby sighed. “Fine, give me the ‘treasure’ pill, what the Hell?”

Rokuro traded with Toby.

“I suppose I should do some trading myself.” Norman mumbled to himself before speaking. “Anatoly, would you like to trade?”

Anatoly shook his head. “No thanks, I’m not a fan of green.”

“I doubt it’s time to be picky over pill colors.” Peko stated.

“I’m just saying, there’s more of a chance I don’t get poisoned than I do, so I think I can afford a little pickiness!” Anatoly reasoned.

“Then…” Norman glanced around again, before catching Rokuro’s eye. He knew that look, which made him smile. “Want to trade, Rokuro?”

“Ab-so-lutely!” Rokuro cheered.

Norman and Rokuro traded.

“W-Want the gold?” Toby asked Anatoly.

Anatoly shrugged. “Sure, I like gold.”

Toby and Anatoly traded.

“Ding ding ding!” Runa suddenly interrupted. “Tiiiime’s up!”

“Finally, that took long enough.” Peko sat up in her seat.

“So, no more trading then? Dang.” Rokuro acted disappointed.

“If you will, please place your pills into the glass of water,” Rei instructed. “Allow it to dissolve and I’ll let you all know when you can drink.”

Everyone began to do just that, although some were more hesitant than others. Norman was one of them, glancing at his white pill. An odd, unnatural color, and yet somehow fitting with his own color choices. With some hesitance, he dropped the pill into the glass cup, hearing the plop as it went into the water. The pill easily dissolved, the white spreading across the water, a few bubblings coming up to the surface. It looked milky, and honestly not very appetizing, but he knew he didn’t have much choice, did he?

“Woah, Norman, look! My water looks like some sort of energy drink!” Rokuro noted.

“Mine looks glittery… I don’t think that’s a good sign.” Anatoly gulped a bit.

“So… all that’s left is drinking it?” Kaya nervously asked.

Rei’s gaze scanned over the table before nodding. “If your pill has been dissolved, you may take a drink.”

Nobody moved for their cup. Each person exchanged glances from one another. Everyone was too nervous to take the chance. It was like they were all waiting for each other to make the first move.

Then, Rokuro grabbed his glass. “Well, bottoms up!”

“Wait, Rokuro-” Norman couldn’t stop him as Rokuro put his drink to his lips and began to swallow. He felt himself hold his breath as he watched Rokuro swallow down almost every last drop of the drink before placing his cup down. Rokuro expressed a pause before crossing his arms, as if thinking, which only made Norman more nervous. Did he…?

“...That tasted like kiwi.” Rokuro finally said. “I don’t really like kiwi, but eh, oh well!”

A sigh of relief washed over the table, with Mikan squeaking out. “P-Please don’t r-risk that again!”

Peko then took a small sip of her drink before placing it down. “Mine is grape. I made the right choice trusting it.”

That started a small chain of people tasting their drinks, although some were understandably more anxious than others. Kaya hummed pleasantly when she tasted hers. “I think this is watermelon!”

“I-I think I got blackberry…” Tetsu noted, looking at his drink curiously.

“S-Strawberry! Not bad!” Toby swished the liquid in his drink by tilting his cup around.

“Y-You all got flavors??” Anatoly gagged right after he tasted his drink.

“My dear, are you alright?” Victor asked, visibly concerned as he patted Anatoly’s back.

“Mine was just glitter! It’s on my tongue!” Anatoly took the napkin on the table and began to spat the golden substance out.

Sai grimaced and coughed into his hand once he tasted his drink. “I… Think I might have gotten fish.”

Norman hesitated before taking a sip of his. He was greeted with a sweet, creamy flavor. It took him a few seconds to register what he was tasting. “...Vanilla ice cream?”

“Whaaat? Luckyyyy, can I have a taste?” Rokuro asked, peering over Norman’s shoulder to look at his cup.

“Didn’t you just down your drink?” Norman asked.

“Yeah, but it was kiwi, and vanilla ice cream sounds good!” Rokuro playfully pestered, to which Norman laughed.

“Okay, but only a taste.” Norman offered Rokuro his glass, to which Rokuro gleefully accepted.

“Cotton candy!” Frisk cheered.

Mikan spat her drink out once she tried it. “E-Ew!”

“Yikes, that’s not good. What’d you get?” Rokuro asked.

“I-I got… I-It tasted like mayo…” Mikan sniffled.

“Ha! Blueberry! Suck it!” Kat grinned, feeling no remorse for the nurse.

“...Hm.” Was all Victor said after sipping his.

“W-Wait… w-who was the one who didn’t get a f-flavor then?” Mikan asked nervously.

“Maybe… there is no poison?” Sai wanted to be at least a little hopeful.

That was quickly dashed as Runa quickly confirmed. “Nope, there is a poison! Wouldn’t be any fun without one!”

“But… who got the poison then?” Frisk asked.

“I did.”

Victor had his hand raised, his smile sad but sympathetic. His glass was still in his other hand.

“My drink had no flavor. I guess this is… quite unfortunate.” Victor said, keeping that smile as he spoke.

Norman’s eyes widened. Victor was poisoned? Then how could he be so calm about this? How could Victor still smile like that? Was he just defeated?

Anatoly stood up, panicking. “Nono, wait, you can’t be- come on, spit it out, try and throw it up!!”

“Sorry, but once it’s drinken, there’s no going back!” Runa giggled. “Looks like Victor is going to be out of the game!”

Victor coughed a bit, using his napkin to cover his mouth, and when he pulled it away, Anatoly exclaimed. “I-Is that blood!?”

“O-Oh my god-” Tetsu fretted. “V-Victor, I- I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t apologize, my dear. I just… had an unlucky hand is all.” Through Victor’s smile, now you could see the red starting to come out of his mouth like drool. It was obvious he couldn’t control it. “I wish I could’ve drank wine before this, but we don’t always get what we want, now, do we?”

“You’re taking death surprisingly well.” Peko watched with a blank expression.

“C-Come on, there’s got to be a way to- to do something!” Anatoly tried to wipe Victor’s mouth before looking at Mikan. “Y-You’re a nurse, right!? Please, help!!”

“R-Right, s-sorry!!” Mikan squealed before quickly getting up and rushing to Victor and Anatoly’s side.

“Shit, shit, shit-” Kat couldn’t stop cursing, almost horrifed.

And yet, despite all of this panic, Victor stayed calm. “My dears, really, it’s… fine…”

“Y-You’re poisoned!” Mikan freaked. “I- I-I’m sorry, I-”

“I’d… rather go out this way…” Victor confessed, blood flooding out of his mouth and down his chin as he spoke, staining his skin and pink suit like a sickening color of paint. “You heard Runa… You can’t help me anyways…”

“Please, Victor! I’m sorry!” Norman could see Anatoly’s eyes start to well up. “This is my fault, if I never gave you the pill, I-”

“Oh, shush…” Victor forced a chuckle. “This is… nobody’s fault… there’s just… one last thing I ask…”

“Don’t say that! You can get through this, you can- can-”

“Just… tell my husband… V-Vincent Edgeworth… that I… love him…” Victor strained a grin once more before his eyes started to roll back a bit. Anatoly immediately tried to keep him up, with Mikan doing her best too.

“Victor, no! Victor!” Anatoly kept repeating his name, even as Norman could visibly see the life fade from his eyes, the pink irises becoming colorless as the blood continued to pool down from his lips. “Victor, speak to me! Victor!!”

Norman tried to speak up, “Anatoly, stop it, Victor, he’s already–”

“ That’s enough .” Peko stood up as well. “He’s dead , Anatoly.”

“But- I-...” Anatoly’s voice trailed off, salty tears starting to drip down his cheeks and fog up his glasses, his hands still on Victor’s chilling body. With shaky breaths, he looked at Mikan, as if looking for some sort of glimmer of hope.

But Mikan could only offer a muted sob. “I-I’m sorry…”

Visibly, Anatoly looked crushed, his hands slowly letting go of Victor as Mikan did the same. Victor was now resting back in his chair, completely limp and the eyes at the back of his head. It was a heart-wrenching sight to say the least. Norman was at least relieved that Victor didn’t have to have his head blown into bloody brain matter, but that’s all he knew he could be relieved for.

“And now, this round is officially over!” Runa announced, her clapping resonating throughout the room. After a grievous incident, Norman barely registered it until he was forced to look back at her grinning face. What more did he expect? What else could he expect from her?

She was sickening. This whole game was sickening. But saying that now, saying that to her would be stating the obvious and would do nothing for them.

“You seriously don’t have any sympathy…” Rokuro noted, showing no real expression towards it. “That… kind of sucks.”

“Rokuro!” Norman instinctively gave a light scold, which made him quiet again.

“Rei, clean up the body, please!” Runa motioned her hand, and Rei nodded as he began to push the snack cart towards Victor, not even bothering to get the cart he usually used.

“Please… please, don’t take him…” Anatoly managed to croak, but Rei ignored it all. “At least grab the proper cart, I… Please…”

“Anatoly… I’m sorry for the loss…” Sai tried to comfort.

“V-Victor… I-I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…” Anatoly had to tear his glasses off, his tears making them all dirty as Rei carefully managed to place the bloody Victor onto the cart, almost knocking over various amenities still on it. It looked so uncomfortable, especially with Victor still gushing blood from the mouth.

“I-I’m so uselesssss…” Mikan sobbed, covering her face and eyes as she weeped.

“At least… he died happily in the end…?” Frisk tried to find what little good was still within this situation.

“That’s… one way to put it.” Norman appreciated the weak optimism.

Rei had entered the back room with Victor still on the cart. Runa looked over at everyone else. “C’mon, back to your seats! The next round is gonna start soon!”

“Y-You… monster!” Anatoly snapped a bit. “I- I wish Luke could’ve killed you! I wish we could’ve gone free! I- I-”

“I-I should’ve been able t-to save him!” Mikan cried. “T-This is my fault! A-All my faulttt..!!”

“Just cut it out.” Peko interrupted, giving the two a cold glare. “Both of your pity parties aren’t going to get us anywhere. Just sit down.”

“Pekoyama! Don’t be so cold! They have every right to grieve!” Sai stated firmly.

“Not if it’ll cost us our lives,” Peko snapped back. “It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. It was either him or someone else. You know that’s true.”

“I-I mean… She’s n-not wrong…” Toby’s head twitched, as did his wrist.

Anatoly said nothing, his shaky body slumping down into his seat, covering his face with one hand as the other held his glasses. Mikan was forced to get back to her seat, still whimpering out apology after apology, begging to be forgiven.

“Peko… I am… Disappointed in you.” Was all Sai could say, shaking his head at the sworded woman. Peko said nothing.

That’s when Rei returned, holding a familiar metal tray and carefully placing it in front of Rokuro.

“D-Don’t tell me that’s what I think it is…” Toby stuttered.

“Is it chicken? Pork? Or maybe it’s a steak!” Rokuro joked around.

Kaya fretted. “R-Rokuro, that’s not funny!”

“Rei, you may lift the top of the tray!” Runa stated. The butler nodded, and carefully lifted the top of it, revealing the familiar revolver and a bunch of bullets scattered around it, as if this was plated like some meal.

It was a signal that the cycle was going to repeat itself again.

Chapter Text

“Now, before we let the round begin, there’s gonna be something special for this time!” Runa announced.

“W-Why another special round…?” Tetsu stammered. “H-Haven’t we all suffered enough…?”

“You all ‘suffer’ as long as I want you to, nyehehahaha!” Runa laughed out loud, spinning in place before speaking again. “This round can act similarly… Except now somebody else can take your shot!”

“W-What does that m-mean?” Toby’s eyes narrowed a bit, fidgeting a bit with his hands.

Tetsu covered his ears a bit. “I- I don’t want to hear it!”

“Tetsu-chan, it’s okay..” Sai did his best to reassure the other.

“What I mean by that is simple! At your turn, you can choose to either shoot yourself, oooor you can aim your gun at somebody else! And to make it even better, my butler will add an extra bullet so there’s twice the chance you’ll be able to kill somebody!”

Norman felt his stomach twist. Somebody can now choose to try and shoot somebody else to save their skin, while also doubling the chances that the one you aim at will die… It made his skin crawl, and clearly, there were similar reactions to those around him.

“You- You can’t be serious…” Anatoly asked. “You want us to murder somebody else? Are you insane!?”

“I… think we know the answer to that…” Tetsu stammered out, tears visibly starting to choke him up.

“I-It’s not s-s-so bad!” Toby dismissed with a wave of his hand. “W-we just don’t aim the gun at anybody! Easy! H-How hard could that b-b-be?”

That made Runa giggle a bit. “Wow, aren’t you so naive?”

“I hate to agree with little miss doggie over there, but she’s sorta right that you are being naive,” Rokuro pointed out.

“W-What? I’m not!” Toby snapped a bit.

Norman swallowed down a small bit of tension. What hurt the most was that they were right. They were all given the chance to save themselves at the cost of somebody else… And after everything, who wouldn’t take the chance?

Anatoly raised his voice a bit. “After everything I’ve had to witness, I refuse to point my gun at anybody!”

“Let’s see how long that’ll last then.” Runa giggled, her gaze landing on the blue-haired boy who sat next to Norman.

Rokuro picked up the gun with a grin, already spinning the barrel. “Shall we begin then?”

With a nod from the butler, Rokuro stopped spinning, thinking for a moment before placing the gun against his temple.

“You’re going to risk it?” Sai asked warily.

Rokuro shrugged. “Who wouldn’t?”

Much to Norman’s anxiety, he placed the barrel of the gun against his temple, his finger quickly pushing the trigger down.

Click.

With a grin, he placed the revolver down in front of him. “Here you go, Norman!’

Norman stared down at the gun, shakily picking it up after a moment. Two out of six bullets… The odds were worse than they were before, and he was starting to have a sinking feeling that he didn’t want to risk it. But to risk it for somebody else would be just as bad, wouldn’t it? To come all this way just to die, or come all this way to get somebody else killed. It made him feel sicker than he was before like he was going to vomit simply by just remembering the loud bangs of gunshots from earlier in this game.

“Norman?” Kaya’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He glanced up, his gaze meeting hers before looking away. He opened his mouth, struggling for a moment before forcing himself to spit it out.

“Is… anybody willing to…”

Sai’s expression visibly darkened. “Willing to do what, Norman?”

With a deep breath, Norman shook his head, blurting out a small “never mind” before placing the gun to his own temple.

Click.

Norman didn’t think he could feel so sickeningly relieved as he quickly passed the gun over to Kaya. Only now did he realize that his palms were sweating a bit from his nervousness.

“Y-You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Toby bluntly stated.

Mikan sniffled a bit. “W-Who wouldn’t..?”

Seeing Toby’s gaze, the nurse flinched and quickly apologized. “I-I’m sorry, I’ll shut up!”

Toby let out a grumble. “Jeez, you seriously are annoying. Y-You’re so lucky that we’ve met under these circumstances and not anywhere else!”

“What’s… that supposed to mean?” Frisk questioned.

Toby seemed… reluctant all of a sudden to give an answer. “..N-Nothing. Forget about it.”

Click.

Kaya carefully passed the gun to Toby, who twitched and fidgeted with the gun in his hands. Norman could see Sai’s gaze boring onto the fidgeting suspect, a slight sharpness in his eyes. Perhaps Sai was suspecting something of the other… and Norman couldn’t help but to wonder the same.

“Say, Tobs, what’s with the twitching?” Rokuro asked bluntly. “You’ve been doing it even before the game started.”

“Admittedly, I’ve been wondering that myself, although I would’ve asked it with less crudeness,” Peko stated.

“I-is it really that appropriate to ask..?” Tetsu nervously glanced around.

Kat grumbled a bit. “At this point, we’ve passed appropriate. ”

“I d-don’t owe any of you an answer…” Toby stammered. “S-So just give up asking.”

“I kinda want to know now too though… It’s just out of curiosity.” Frisk stated.

Norman tried to speak up. “Guys, if he doesn’t want to answer, he doesn’t have to–”

But he was cut off by the sound of metal.

Toby had stood up, pointing the revolver in his hands over at Mikan. She flinched, eyes widening when she realized what was happening, and let out a squeak in horror. “Y-You-!”

“T-Toby, what are you doing!?” Kaya exclaimed, standing up, some others also rising to their feet in shock and a bit of fear.

Toby let out a laugh. “W-What does it look like? Runa said we can have somebody else take the bullet f-for us, so that’s what I’m d-doing!”

“But you’ll risk her life!” Sai nearly shouted, and Tetsu had to hold his arm to almost hold him back.

“That is his choice,” Peko calmly stated. “Don’t bother changing his mind.”

“We can’t just let him almost kill somebody!” Kaya tried to reason.

“Yeah, we’re just doing whatever the Hell those two psychos want!” Kat gave a directed point to Rei and Runa, who responded with a downward glance and a playful smile respectively.

“I d-don’t care, you fucking idiots!” Toby stammered, pointing the gun stiffly as his finger settled on the trigger. “I-I’m doing it, no matter what you say!”

There was a cacophony of shouts and cries for a few moments, the nurse putting her arms up with an anticipating scream–

Click.

…Toby pulled the trigger, but no bullets came out. There was a moment of tense silence before Toby placed the gun back down on the table, “S-See? Nothing happened.”

“Why the FUCK would you risk that!?” Kat yelled out, her hands balling up into fists.

“Yeah, that was reckless and irresponsible of you to do!” Sai scolded right after.

Mikan shakily lowered her arms, visibly quaking as she stammered out. “D-Do you hate me… that m-much?”

Norman felt his heartache when he saw the nurse sniffle, so he tried to give a bit of comfort. “I’m sure he doesn’t mean it like that-”

Mikan cut him off with a wail. “I-I’m so sorry!! I-I’ll be better for you, I promise!!”

“M-Mikan, please, it’s a-alright! It’s not your fault!” Tetsu stuttered.

“Jeez, Tobs… That was cold.” Was all Rokuro said.

Toby scoffed as he placed the gun over to Frisk. “As if any of you wouldn’t do the same.”

“B-But we wouldn’t…” Kaya’s voice still trailed off despite what she said. Norman knew even she wasn’t so sure of that anymore. Were any of them really sure in the first place?

Mikan covered her face, still crying as all of this was happening. “T-This is always my fault…”

“Mikan, there’s no need to say that, none of this is your fault,” Sai tried to comfort.

“I-It kind of is, since she’s been the most useless one here.” Toby snarkily added. “I-I mean, a nurse to a game about life and d-death… ironic.”

Peko hummed slightly. “That’s interesting coming from somebody who said before that all of us shouldn’t just point the gun at anybody.”

“S-Shut up.”

“You’re being a bit mean, Toby…” Frisk stated before putting the gun against their temple.

Click.

The gun was passed from the child to Anatoly.

Toby rolled his eyes, prompting Frisk to ask. “What’s going on with you now?”

“Now? Now? I’m sick and tired of all of this, t-that’s what!” Toby snapped. “W-Why are you all acting so innocent? I’m only having a little fun.”

“Fun?” Kaya repeated, her face becoming a shade paler. “Y-You’re not finding this…”

“I think I’m gonna be sick…” Tetsu covered his mouth, trying to hold himself together as Sai patted his back, giving Toby a dirty look.

“Don’t get m-me wrong, it sucked when we all were much closer to death, and we still are now,” Toby stated. “B-But now we have the chance to, y’know, s-shift the blame. We’ve a-already done this at the start of the game, remember?”

Rokuro gave a blank stare, but even Norman could see that the words stung.

“Do not bring that situation into this!” Sai quickly reprimanded as Anatoly slunk back into his chair, awkwardly passing the gun over to Mikan, who was still blubbering and sobbing apology after apology.

“You’re fucking sick, man!” Kat spat out, slamming her hands down against the table.

“P-p-please, just stop…” Mikan hiccuped out. “W-why does everyone have to fight because of me?”

“I-It’s not like that, Mikan, d-don’t listen to him-!” Tetsu stammered a bit, trying to be reassuring despite the stress.

“G-Guess I’m the bad guy again! Of course, I am!” Toby threw his hands up.

Anatoly spoke up. “You literally nearly killed her at your turn!”

Mikan whimpered. “It’s because I’m worthlessss!”

“Well, give him payback!” Kat then shouted. “Risk his life then!”

“Absolutely not, that solves nothing!” Sai quickly tried to shut it down, visibly a bit appalled.

“I- I c-can do it!” Swiftly spinning the barrel, Mikan stood up, visibly shaking with the revolver in her hands, tears still streaming down her face.

“Oh yeah, because I’m soooo scared of you,” Toby remarked sarcastically, crossing his arms despite the gun being pointed right at his head.

“I-I’ll do it!” Mikan stammered. “I- I c-can-”

“Mikan, don’t!” Norman tried to call out, the table starting to erupt in different voices.

“She wants to do this, let her do this.” Peko calmly stated. In fact, she was the only calm one here outside of Rokuro.

“N-No! None of us should be doing this!” Kaya exclaimed. “It’s way too dangerous and cruel!”

Norman made the attempt to reason. “Exactly, there’s no need for needless revenge!”

“It’s not revenge if it’s part of the game.” Peko defended.

“Maybe she’ll get lucky?” Frisk asked.

“No, Tsumiki, put down the gun!” Sai demanded firmly, keeping his eyes on the shaking nurse.

“Yes, please put down the gun, do you want blood on your hands?” Anatoly added in a pleading tone.

“I know you’re upset, but this causes more harm than good.” Sai agreed, watching Mikan shrivel and sniffle.

Peko gave Sai a sideways glance. “This is her choice and her choice alone.”

“Who’s side are you on?!” Anatoly decided to ask.

Peko gave a simple, yet cold, answer. “My own.”

“C’mon, d-do it!” Toby taunted, raising his arms up. “Right h-here, right in my head! Do s-something useful for once instead of just crying!”

“Do what only feels right!” Frisk added.

“Don’t fucking encourage that!?” Kat yelled. “She shouldn’t be doing it at all!!”

Frisk tried to explain. “We can’t change her mind if she sets her ways–”

“Ha! Says the girl who wanted me to die earlier!” Toby laughed at Kat. “What’re you, all bark and no bite?”

“Miss, please, let’s just end this!” Tetsu pleaded.

“P-Please, everyone SHUT UP!!”

BANG!!

…Silence.

Norman’s ears rang with the deafening sound that immediately made his stomach twist. He knew what happened. He hated that he knew what had happened, but he couldn’t deny it when he saw the smoke escaping the gun in the nurse’s shaky, bandaged hands. The blood splattered on the chair and table in front of the male, and his limp body with a dead expression as he almost leaned back unnaturally.

Toby had gotten shot.

Sai had his mouth covered in horror, visibly shaken up. “..Tsumiki- Tsumiki, what have you done!?”

His yell caused the noise to finally start up again amongst the table.

Norman’s gaze flashed over to Mikan, whose face was streaming with tears as she stared at Toby’s body in a type of horror that he hadn’t seen before. It was almost like a type of despair had crossed over her horrified expression.

Kaya sobbed out, covering her face and doubling in on herself as she cried. “Toby… Toby, no…”

“...Guess she really did it after all.” That was all Rokuro said.

Peko then stood up. “She made her choice, and she lived it. That is all we should be concerned with.”

“But Toby died because of her!” Kaya wailed.

“And how is this any different than with me?” Rokuro decided to ask.

“I-It’s not, isn’t it?” Mikan’s voice was quiet and shaky. “I… I killed somebody… I-I really killed him…”

“When push comes to shove, things happen,” Peko stated. “Now, hand the gun over to Kat. Let’s continue the game.”

Mikan… didn’t let go of the gun.

Norman felt a pit grow in his stomach as he decided to ask. “...Mikan? Are you alright?”

“...Alright? Alright ..?”

At first, the sound that escaped her could’ve been mistaken for hiccups… but it quickly devolved into demented giggling as a shaky smile spread across the meek nurse’s face.

“What… What kind of stupid question is that? After all this, are you braindead ?”

The switch caught Norman off-guard. Hearing that broken laughter echo throughout the room made chills go up his spine. It was like witnessing insanity bloom in front of him.

“Mikan..?” Frisk’s worried tone cut through the sound of giggling.

With one hand, Mikan grasped her hair, pulling at it with a hard force, the gun still trembling in her grasp, hiccups mixing with chuckling. “This feeling… I’m a cold-hearted murderer now, aren’t I? He didn’t even have a chance to scream , hahahaha… I guess he deserved it though with how bad he was to me… I wished he died more painfully… I wanted to feel his body die on top of mine… Silly, silly, stupid me… Doing everything wrong again and again and again…”

“Okay, let’s not go that far, okay?” Rokuro tried to speak but was quickly cut off.

“Y-You didn’t mean to..” Tetsu stammered. “Y-You’re not cold-hearted-!”

Rokuro gave a nod. “So, let’s just put down the gun now, it’s over.”

“He is correct, it’s time for us to move this game along.”

Norman was a bit surprised to see the butler speak up with such a stern expression, his hand ghosting towards the inside of his blazer. Chills went down his spine, but his next surprise came right after, with Runa giving a giggle.

“No, no, keep this going, I want to see how this ends a little longer!” Runa waved her hand dismissively, much to the butler’s dismay, but Rei gave a nod and looked away.

Sai tried to be the negotiator for the emotional woman. “Mikan, just look at me, don’t look at him–”

“You’re scaring us!” Kaya exclaimed, hugging herself out of fear.

“Mikan, pass over the gun.” Peko tried to demand again, although, for a moment, Norman thought he saw a brief look of worry on her face.

Norman looked back at Runa, seeing if she’d do anything to stop this chaos… but she didn’t. She stayed back and watched, getting out a piece of candy to delicately chew on. Rei still seemed stiff though, as if ready to spring at the right moment, if only by command.

“What- what are we going to do?” Tetsu shakily asked in a whisper.

Norman hesitated before speaking up. “Mikan, everything’s going to be alright, this isn’t your fault!”

Frisk added, “We have to keep going!”

Anatoly put his hands together. “ Please , at least put the gun down!”

“We’re all fucked, we’re all absolutely fucked! I’m right next to somebody who’s lost her god damn mind!” Kat was almost hiding behind her chair, staying as far as she could from the nurse without repercussions.

“No, no, don’t say that, Mikan, don’t listen to anybody, just focus on me.” Sai tried to get everything back on track as the chaos continued to happen around them.

“Easy for you to say, I’m right next to the girl with a gun!” Kat was quick to turn and snap.

“Please, calm down, yelling like this won’t solve anything!” Norman exclaimed, trying to help calm everything down.

“Exactly, so let’s just take a few deep breaths, okay?” Sai asked, keeping his gaze on the nurse.

“What do you want to do?” Frisk asked nervously.

“Ahahaha!” Mikan answered with laughter. “Why do I have to be so pathetic like this?! Why am I always the screw-up!? Why, why, WHY!?”

She spun the barrel haphazardly before placing the gun into her mouth as she screamed. “I’m done, you hear that!? I’M DONE!!”

Norman’s eyes widened. “Wait, Mi–”

BANG!!

“–k-kan..-”

His voice trailed off to nothingness as he witnessed another head being shot through, this time through the roof of the mouth of a twisted suicide. Blood quickly splattered on the walls behind the nurse as her body took a brief few seconds to collapse, hitting the chair before landing on the floor with a final thud. Kat was the first to scream out, and the rest followed with hollow echoes that Norman blocked out with ringing in his ears.

Norman’s gaze slowly drifted over to Runa and Rei as the chaos unfolded around them. He wasn’t sure what made his stomach sink more: the gamemaster’s sickening grin as she paused her chewing on the candy in her mouth or the butler’s cold downward expression that stared at the floor the previously weeping nurse collapsed onto her.

Were they expecting this to happen? Did they want her to die? Or maybe Mikan was just the unlucky one in all of this. After all, any one of them could’ve broken down and snapped… any one of them could’ve killed themselves if they had the chance.

And Norman couldn’t deny that he was part of that group as well.